Is
love for oneself necessary or important? Yes, definitely it is I would say
because of all the experiences that I have had up to now. According to me,
self- love is basically the time that you dedicate to loving yourself;
respecting and talking to yourself. Loving, respecting or talking to yourself
is possible only if you make time for yourself.
Love
yourself by appreciating each part of your body, accepting your life and
yourself the way you are. If we do this then we won’t need to look out or crave
for appreciation from others. We will be so to say self- satisfied.
Respect yourself by considering yourself as
equally important as the others. Treat yourself with respect, hold you head
high and have great self- esteem. Respecting others will be possible only if
you respect yourself. As it is rightly ‘You can only give to others if you have
something.’ Talk to yourself by spending quality time with yourself. Spend time
with yourself talking about the current and the future plans, affirm yourself
and heal your wounds. For a long time I feel, I didn’t make time for myself and
also took myself for granted. I thought if my needs were not met, it was okay.
Maybe the thought of being humble was running in my mind then. However now I
have come to the realization that humility and low self- esteem/ self- respect
are 2 totally different things. A little child is the best example of humility.
Low self- esteem/ self- respect/ self- love arises because I don’t give time to
myself and think that I’m too busy to do that or there are better things to do
than give time to myself.
I
had such a scheduled/ time- tabled life that I didn’t even give time to myself
to take a look at the wonderful face that God had and has given me. I thought
that giving time to myself was a waste of time and that I had to ‘do’
things in order to be successful. Hence I was busy in doing so many things
without realizing who I was at the core of my being. I was a robot then,
dancing to my own tunes of completing tasks and also a fulfiller of others expectations
and beliefs.
These
ripples of low self- esteem/ self- respect/ self- love showed itself in non-
socialization. Everything had to start and finish on time, if not; my whole
plan would be disturbed which I wouldn’t easily allow to happen under ordinary
circumstances. I would get irritated if anyone came to talk (disturb) to me out
of the stipulated time i. e. during meals. I wasn’t selfish but it was the
reflection of how I treated myself that replicated on others.
Lately
when I was giving shape to my beard, I felt loved, I felt like an aura of love
came over me when I spent time trimming my moustache. When I looked in the
mirror, I realized it was I who was loving myself. I felt so good about myself
that it felt like a ‘eureka’ moment that I got over trimming my moustache.
It
felt like slowly things were falling in place. The corrections given to me by
my friends, superiors and others seemed to make sense. Because I wasn’t giving
time to myself I ended up in very meager time spending with my friends. The
tasks at hand seemed more important than the people around me. I had made a
time tabled embryo for myself.
I
must say that getting out of it hasn’t been easy, because I had to go against
my own grain. It was like going against the current. The Lord helped me to love
myself and extend it to others. Now I feel that I am open to listen to anyone
at any time. Change is possible only with the Lord’s help. Without Him there is
no change that can effectively take place.
Everything
seems to fall in place with God’s grace. This growth experience has taught me
that I must be humble and approach the Lord to help me solve problems that I
face with regard to myself and also in relation to others.
