Loving Yourself

On Saturday I attended a seminar on "Loving Yourself" hosted by my health coach and her associates. I discovered something quite surprising. During an activity with one other person we were to name off all the things you dislike about yourself, then after the other person did the same we were to list all the things you like about yourself. For at least 50 of my years the list of negative things about myself went on and on and on. The list was nearly endless of things I disliked about my self.

On this day I was surprised to find that my old list of personal inadequacies has grown shorter. Maybe it is because I turned 60 this year and magically became someone who no longer cares what other people think of me, or maybe it just took me that long to learn to accept that I am okay, just the way I am. This was truly a revelation to me.

Perhaps it is because I have lost weight and I'm feeling better about my appearance; I'm sure that is part of it because I can still hear all the old negative self talk rattle around in my head. But now it isn't so true. Perhaps I have finally reached a point in my life where I need to live in the moment instead of dwelling in the past or worrying about the future.  

It is true that you can't fully love others until you learn to love yourself. 

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV).

It is my hope that you will take time to love yourself today. God created you as a unique individual with a specific purpose. May you wrap your arms around yourself and rejoice in this day.