Sep
21
Appreciate And Love Yourself
Filed Under Career, Entrepreneurship, Health, Motivation & Purpose, Relationships, The Bigger Perspective | 1 Comment
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Love Yourself
From the previous post Why You Should Show Appreciation, it’s clear that it is very important to give ot people appreciation whenever we get a chance. The irony is, while we do sometimes do this for other people, we often forget to give it to the one person that matters to us the most – ourselves! While we may step around on tip toes to avoid hurting other people’s feelings, we often forget to appreciate and love ourself for the things that we’ve done.
Why Should You Love Yourself?
So why do you need to appreciate and love yourself? Like, you are you right? It’s not like you don’t know what you’ve done. You are already reaping the benefits of your previous actions and sowing the seeds for your future welfare.
Well, while this is true, you maybe taking the fruits of your previous labors for granted. Strangely, all the relationship stuff between two people applies here as well. Your previous self didn’t have to work hard for you. He didn’t have to stay up until 3 am getting that project done just so you could get an A and get a good job. He could have gone out and eaten lots of ice cream, leaving you jobless and really fat.
The thing is, we only exist in the present moment, so the present you, the past you, and the future you aren’t really the same person. The past you is a memory of the present you. The future you is your imagination of him. By the same token, the present you owes your existence to the past you. That person had the courage to imagine you as you are instead of imaginingg you as a corpse!
All that stuff that person has done was mostly for you. You are one of the primary recipients of the benefits of his/ actions. In fact, in most cases, you are the sole recipient of the benefits of his/ actions. Doesn’t that person deserve your appreciation and love? Nobody else can fully appreciate the things he/she has done except you!
Love Yourself – It Matters
Now, you may ask, “What difference does it make? My past self is in the past! How am I supposed to thank him, and even if I do, why does it matter?” Well, that actually gets to the point of this article! Remember that your past self at the present is just your memory of him. That means you are in complete control of how you perceive that person! This means that while you are a product of his imagination, he is also a product of your mind. Therefore, your perceptions of him colors your perception of his perception of you (which is what his imagination is).
For example, you could think of your past self as an angry, stupid child. However, would an angry, stupid child dream of being an honest, reliable person? Then doesn’t that mean you don’t think of yourself as an honest, reliable person? Contrast that with thinking of you previous self as a child with an amazing amount of potential. That person can dream of being a nobel peace prize winner, an olympic track star, a billonaire. And since you are his dream, you can be those things too.
How To Love Yourself?
So, how do you show your past self your honest, sincere appreciation? Well, you can do it the same way you do it for other people.
Think of something you have today that you’re really proud of having. Perhaps, you’re really glad that you have a job. Think of the things that you previous self has done to contribute to that. Maybe you worked hard to get out of college. Maybe you came up with a great, witty idea that won over the people at your interview. Make up a list of these things in your mind (and maybe write them down).
Now, imagine yourself at the end of each of these situations. For example, if you worked hard to get out of college, imagine yourself at your graduation. There is no one else around, but just you and your past self. You see him, with his diploma in his hand, tired but clearly happy at his accomplishment. You walk up to him, and tell him, “Warren, I really appreciate the hard work you have done for me. Because of you, I now have the skills necessary to hold on to a good job and contribute to society. No matter what anybody says, you have done me a great service and I really appreciate you for it. You have also shown me what I am capable of accomplishing. Thank you for inspiring me to be a better person. I will strive to live up to your expectations!”
Effects When You Love Yourself
When you really do this exercise sincerely, the parts that you like about yourself will take up a larger part of who you are (since you think about it more). Also, because someone will always appreciate each and every little thing you do, it becomes easier to do those things that you might normally procrastinate about.
After all, why would anyone do anything, if nobody thinks it’s of any importance? The truth is, a lot of things we do only have importance to our future self. Don’t deny your past self the appreciation he deserves!
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Hey another thing man is that if you cannot love your self you will not be able to do have self confidence.