Five Ways to Love Yourself This Month.

The month of February holds a lot of Klout. It’s the shortest calendar month of the year, the month in which the United States decides that Black History is important, and it’s also the month that host Valentine’s Day. The one day of the year where society says it is okay for you to publicly shower  gifts upon your significant other and for those who are single to question their greatness and wonder why they are single. I’ve never been a huge fan of Valentine’s Day as I believe you should be shown and reminded that you are loved 364 days out of the year. For theMonth of February, I’ve decided to do things a little different and give you Five Ways to Help you Love Yourself this Month.

1. Conquer self-negativity: You can be your worse critic. You look in the mirror and instantly start thinking of everything that’s wrong with you. This month, when you look in the mirror instead of focusing on the things wrong take a good long look at yourself and find something that you love. For added benefit write what you love about yourself on a sticky note and hang it on your mirror. It can serve as a reminder every day that your positives outweigh your negatives.

2. Show yourself the same love you show others: Often we put so much effort into our outside relationships in hopes that we’ll reciprocate that same love. This can often lead you on a path to nowhere. This time go the extra mile to make yourself happy. Love Yourself! Take time to take care of yourself also by goingto the doctor for those needed checkups, make time to go to the gym, buy yourself that bouquet of flowers or treat yourself to dinner and a movie. 

“Even when it seems that there is no one else, always remember there’s one person who never ceased to love you – yourself.”
― Sanhita Baruah

3. Don’t apologize for your passion. 90% of adults are working in industries that don’t align with their passion. Often voicing one’s passion or setting out to pursue a passion can be met with side eyes or negative comments leading you to lock yourself back in a pattern of life that ultimately makes you unhappy. This month take strides to avoid the naysayers and step out on faith.

4.  Let go of negative relationships: One of my mantra’s this year was only to be around positive people. So anyone that was a negative Nancy could not be in my corner. This is a little easier said than done and has caused me to  change up my daily routine in order to keep from being around who I knew to have negative personalities for long periods of time. This has allowed me to have more fulfilling days as I’m I leave work on a lighter happier note as opposed to my mind being weighed down with negativity.

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.”
― Walt Whitman

5. Say, “No” More: As a child we’re taught the word No is negative, and so we carry this same thinking into adulthood. If you’ve always felt a compulsion to meet everyone else’s needs before your own then it’s time to stop. Not to disappoint others, we agree to things asked of us with very little thought for ourselves. This month think of yourself before you agree to something you may not really want to do. Ask yourself, will this take time away from something you already had planned? Can you actually afford it? Will this task affect you negatively, in the long run? Remember show yourself the same love that you show others.

Take a moment to think about one thing you love you most about yourself. Let us know what it is in the comments!