We set the standard of how we want to be treated. Our relationships are reflections of the relationships we have with our ourselves — Iyanla Vanzan
I always had a crush on “the boy next door.” When I was 4, his name was Tommy. We were born a day apart, our Moms were inseparable, which made us besties from the beginning. I was spoiled early on with his undivided attention … until our first day of kindergarten.
The first classmate I had to share him with was Lori … all blue eyes and blonde hair. So much for wedding plans.
I believed in fairy tales — that happiness lies in the affections of a boy, a boyfriend, a husband, a hero.
The sweetness. The magic.
Then I grew up. It took me more than four decades to discover that real magic resides in how kindly I treat myself.
This relationship with self notion is simple, but not easy. And if you struggle with this too, it turns out you and I are not alone. The biggest struggle in life is to know, embrace, and accept ourselves, with all of our faults and imperfections, according to Psychology Today’s article entitled The 50 Best Quotes on Self-Love.
I share my favorites here.
— It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to. (W.C. Fields)
— Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one’s own sunshine. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
— Scarcity of self-value cannot be remedied by money, recognition, affection, attention or influence. (Gary Zukav)
— You can’t build joy on a feeling of self-loathing. (Ram Dass)
— Your problem is you’re too busy holding onto your unworthiness. (Ram Dass)
— People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross)
— Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. (Carl Jung)
— To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself. (Thich Nhat Hanh)
<
p style=”padding-left:90px;”>— Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one. (Eleanor Roosevelt)
— Your task is not to seek for Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. (Rumi, thirteenth century Sufi poet)
— Loving yourself does not mean being self-absorbed or narcissistic, or disregarding others. Rather it means welcoming yourself as the most honored guest in your own heart, a guest worthy of respect, a lovable companion. (Margo Anand)
— Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting. (William Shakespeare, Henry V.)
— To love yourself right now, just as you are, is to give yourself heaven. Don’t wait until you die. If you wait, you die now. If you love, you live now. (Alan Cohen)
— I celebrate myself, and sing myself. (Walt Whitman)
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p style=”padding-left:90px;”>— Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. (Veronica A. Shoffstall)
— When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life. (Jean Shinoda Bolen)
It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. — Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mt. Everest
For the full list of quotes, go to:
Bliss Blog 