In the midst of changing the world for the better and inspiring others, I think many of us forget about one of the most important types of love: self love.
Loving yourself is so important. Who better to have in your corner than you? Naturally, you’ll always want to improve upon yourself, have those “I shouldn’t have done that,” memories, and have those tiny pieces of yourself you want to nitpick. But in loving yourself, you accept yourself, your whole self for who you are. You accept each part of you and know every part of your life has led you to this point. You forgive yourself for those decisions you maybe wish you could take back. You acknowledge the lessons you learned from those choices. You grow from it. If you haven’t yet, you still have time. You are still here, you are in the now, you are still in the works.
At my age, I know I don’t have it together. I’m okay with that. I have come to terms with this whole thing (school, family life, relationships, friendships, work, etc.) constantly being a journey. It is constantly changing, and some is for the worst while some is for the better. I have accepted my lack of control over certain situations, but I choose to be as proactive as I can be in the parts of my life I can control. Not every bit goes as planned, some days are worse than others, and I know it is okay for me to not be okay all the time.
There is nothing wrong with feeling down and out certain days. It is what you do after those days, that goes in the books. One bad day doesn’t mean a bad life. Just like one bad decision doesn’t make you a bad person. Things happen, it’s up to you to do something in response to it.
What gets you back up and at it? What pushes you to be your best self? What inspires you? Know what it is, and never forget it. My little brother is my push factor. I know he looks up to me. I know he thinks the world of me, and even when I made mistakes, he always says, “It’s okay.”
And he’s right.
No matter what, it is okay. Maybe not in that very moment, but it will be okay. You will be okay. So go on, as life does, and love yourself.
