Learning to love yourself is crucial for your emotional health. If there are significant advantages to being positive towards others, then it is essential to be positive towards yourself first. After all, you have to live with yourself your whole life.
Self-love means self-worth, so practicing self-love is like playing the ‘useful selfishness’ card, putting your own needs first in a healthy way. You benefit from knowing who you are and accepting your strengths and shortcomings.
Moreover, it is only when you learn to love and nurture yourself as if you were your own child that you can approach others with love. If you underestimate yourself, you will never be a confident person and your self-esteem will never reach the desired level. Therefore, self-love is a priority.
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Many people think that they do not love themselves. This is partly not true. It is impossible not to love ourselves, because we are the ones who make a purchase for ourselves on the path of life. However, there are still people who think they don’t love themselves. In fact, what they mean by that is that there are certain parts of themselves or their personality that they don’t like.
Also, you may not like yourself because you regret or feel embarrassed about something you thought or said. This is normal because you are not perfect. Everyone has flaws and you have to learn to live with your flaws. But this is not a reason to stop loving and caring for yourself.
Characteristics of people with low self-esteem
People with low self-esteem are under a lot of stress. Many psychological problems can stem from this. In fact, addiction problems, excessive need for acceptance, anxiety and depression are all related to it.
In addition to treating themselves badly, people with low self-esteem tend to look down on and belittle others. That is, they project their feelings and thoughts about themselves onto others. Also, such people
- Constantly seek the approval of others.
- Want to control others.
- They are mistreated by their partners, colleagues or friends.
- Form dependent relationships with people, institutions, causes or substances.
- Have distorted thoughts.
- They have feelings of self-dissatisfaction, self-hatred, self-loathing and self-deprecation.
- As you can see, low self-esteem can lead to a range of human, professional or other problems.
Low self-esteem can lead to some psychological disorders
Learning to love yourself protects you from mental illness. In fact, low self-esteem can go as far as facilitating depression, anxiety, eating disorders and body image disorders.
In older people, low self-esteem has been associated with deteriorating health, greater health problems, greater anxiety, depression and more pain. Low self-esteem can also be a risk factor for suicide. However, whatever condition it causes, it is one of many factors that make up its root cause. So, low self-esteem alone cannot be responsible for malnutrition.
5 tips to help you learn to love yourself
Learning to love yourself is closely linked to self-esteem. You can use a number of methods to improve this. We have compiled them for you below:
Talk positively to yourself
Talking to yourself can have positive or negative consequences. If you constantly criticize and blame yourself, of course you will feel bad. If you respect yourself and are aware of the language you use, you will feel better.
Judging yourself prevents you from developing and moving forward. It is important to learn to see your positives and be happy for them, to accept your shortcomings. Trying to change them to be perfect is not a humane way of behaving. In fact, change is only possible if you accept them.
Take care of your body and soul
Body and soul are two inseparable parts. What is good for one is good for the other. This means that it is good to take care of yourself both physically and spiritually.
A balanced diet, a good night’s sleep, exercising every week, listening to pleasant music, taking a walk in nature or having a candlelit dinner with someone important to you are some activities that can make you feel better. Try to engage in any activity or hobby that nourishes your body and soul.
Treat mistakes as learning opportunities instead of punishing yourself
When you make a mistake, it is useless to punish yourself for it. We all make mistakes and we should accept them as part of our lives. Yes, of course it would be better if we didn’t make mistakes, but pretending that you never make mistakes is like lying to yourself.
Behind every mistake there is a lesson, an opportunity to try and learn how to do things differently. Instead of beating yourself up about it, it is better to focus on the lesson to be learned.
Discard contradictory messages
A contradictory message is both a compliment and a criticism. It is very common for people with low self-esteem to do this. An example of a contradictory message might be “I did a good job, but it took me almost a lifetime to do it”.
Discard these contradictory messages and use them gratefully as praise to yourself. Only discard the criticism part. For example: “I feel really good about my work”.
Go to a healthy place, have healthy relationships and do healthy activities
Healthy places are places where you save your peace and enjoyment of life. It could be the mountains, the sea, or a park… If you choose to stay at home, surround yourself only with what is useful and pleasant. If necessary, reorganize your home. Somehow, this will help you to reorganize your life.
Healthy people are those whose presence and friendship give you peace and energy. Connect with those with whom you are comfortable and avoid relationships that harm you.
On the other hand, healthy activities are pleasant moments that give you the strength you need to cope with the stresses of everyday life. Reading an engrossing book, watching a movie, playing sports or relaxing can be examples.
As you can see, learning to love yourself is very important for quality of life. As with all skills, it also requires dedication. Supporting yourself, taking care of yourself and valuing yourself is essential for good emotional health. This is the way to build a happy life.
