
By Lianne Avila — Written on Apr 18, 2018
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Unfortunately, when you're feeling down about yourself or where you are in life right now, it becomes all too easy to come up with reasons not to love yourself or to feel like you're not "enough." You tell yourself you aren't pretty enough, rich enough, tall enough, and many other hurtful things.
Now, I know you have heard of self-love. The question is why aren't you practicing it? When you really stop to think about it, how much time do you spend criticizing yourself?
I think as human beings, we are prone to criticizing ourselves. But is this because you compare yourself to others all the time? Doing this is always a set up for disaster. If it doesn't stop, you can end up with anxiety or depression. So stop comparing yourself to others and stop criticizing yourself.
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This means it’s time to be good to yourself. There is nobody else like you. This means you are special. This is not the same as being self-absorbed. It only means that you don’t hate yourself. When you love yourself, you will attract people into your life that respect you and love you for the person you are.
To learn how to feel better about yourself and your life, you need to start learning how to love yourself first.
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Here are 25 ways to practice self-love that can help you take action and start feeling better:
- De-clutter your space.
- Take a deep breath.
- Take a glorious afternoon nap.
- Try out a new recipe.
- Nourish your body with something healthy.
- Have a good cry.
- Forgive yourself and learn from your mistakes.
- Learn how to say "no" when you need to.
- Drink lots of water.
- Spend an entire day at the beach.
- Literally, stop and smell the roses.
- If you have children, play with them all day.
- Write a love letter to yourself.
- Buy yourself something pretty.
- Go for a walk in nature.
- Take action towards a goal.
- Get some sunshine.
- Treat yourself to a massage.
- Swing on the swings at the park.
- Get your nails done.
- Journal about your big dreams and hopes for the future.
- Watch Netflix and just chill.
- Get a good night’s sleep.
- Pop open a bottle of champagne to celebrate life.
- Watch a funny movie and laugh your ass off.
Start practicing self-love today by trying one of these tips above. Then, keep adding more self-love to your day. You will start to feel better about yourself and others and stop criticizing yourself so much, too.
Self-love has been known to prevent burn out. This is when you start losing your passion for life. You no longer enjoy what you used to, and you begin to feel resentful towards those around you.
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If you try these tips and they don’t help, then it’s time to get help. You can talk to a friend or family member. You can also talk to a professional for help.
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Lianne Avila is a Marriage & Family Therapist, in San Mateo, CA. I have helped many individuals learn to love themselves and thrive. For more information, please visit Lessons for Love.
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This article was originally published at www.LessonsforLove.com. Reprinted with permission from the author.