this valentines day, love yourself first

this valentine’s day, I offer you a twist on what to think about first.

those of you with loved ones will automatically give cards, treats and smooches. that’s fun for sure.

but this v-day, add something new to the mix.   add spending a few minutes loving who you are.   i know how stupid that sounds but stop laughing for a second.   do YOU love YOU?

what that means is do you take care of yourself?  not in the manicure/pedicure way.  it doesn’t mean that you perform your role as wife/husband, mother/daughter, friend/peer perfectly – as we know that is never the objective.  it means… is the voice in your head – the one that talks to you – a positive voice?  does it say things like:

“you nailed that presentation!”

“that’s ok, there will be another opportunity, you did your best!”

“you are exactly where you need to be.”

or is it more like this:

“dumb ass, why’d ya do something like that?”

“i just can’t keep up”

“why’d i say that? i’m so stupid”

the thing with being good to yourself is that if you never learned from your parents, older siblings or a caregiver how to love yourself, you may not even know how.  a big part of being good to yourself is to say I AM ENOUGH.  and it’s being vulnerable enough to admit you’re not perfect.

one of the biggest life-changing things i did was watch this TED video.  i watched the video, i dunno, maybe 10 times.  it’s one of those videos that digs deep into who you are. i actually already wrote about this video here back in 2012.  it breaks open the WHY behind the negative self-talk, which then shows you how to love yourself more.   watch it.  and if you want more info,  you can read the blog, take the class or simply just read the book. 

also, here’s some more inspiration to love yourself on V-Day.  find more here.