Many people find real self-love elusive.
Here is one of the best discoveries I have made about self-love over the years: It’s not so much about doing exercises and waiting for that magical moment to happen someday. Acquiring self-love is much more about doing things that are self-loving.
These do not have to be big things, like taking yourself on a world cruise (although that probably wouldn’t hurt). They could be “small” things.
Here are a few of the small things I’ve been practicing lately:
- When out taking my daily walks, I DO allow myself to have the right of way when there is a car pulled up to the crosswalk. I no longer wave the driver ahead of me as if they are more important than I. I am important!
- When getting a manicure, I take a moment to turn the page on my e-book on my phone without apologizing for stalling the process of the manicurist. I am paying them to do me a service, and my enjoyment is more important than them getting my manicure done so they can get on to the next one and make more money faster.
- When I notice I am tired, even if it’s in the middle of my workday, I take some time when my schedule allows to rest. This might be 15 minutes to read my book, or 30 minutes to set a timer and take a nap. Ignoring my body’s signals is just another way to follow along with the patriarchal belief that being a doing machine is more important than self-care.