As
many of us have faced challenges and opportunities for growth during these
exciting and volatile times, we have been encouraged to uncover and transform
those areas of ourselves which are in need of attention, expansion, and
resolution. For me, personally, many
things have arisen, and I have been thankful for the growth opportunities. One of the themes that seemed to continually
surface was that of self-love, self-confidence,
and related themes. I honestly hadn’t
even considered the fact that I might need to focus on these areas. I suppose it’s a common one, though, as life
experiences have managed to change us in many ways.
[Self-love:
The instinct or desire to promote one's own well-being; regard for or love of one's
self]
I figured that I’d take the opportunity to learn more about
the subject and even take the Self-Love
Challenge that I just happened to discover in a synchronous manner (http://howdoiloveme.com/). I spent about a month making an attempt to do
something for myself – no matter how big or small - each day. It started as an attempt to show myself that
I am deserving – as we all are. I then
started to delve deeper into the subject matter and began to realize that by
working on myself, I was also working on the well-being of everyone, in a collective fashion.
As I decided to broaden the scope of my self-love actions/reflections,
the realization that we are all ONE and are unified in these efforts to become
the best reflection of our perfect selves started to sink in more and
more. The full power of these
realizations became more evident as relevant topics such as gratitude, forgiveness, and reflection
began to surface.
I am grateful to have learned so much about my personal value
and connection to all of you. I was
pleased to realize that when I help and
improve myself, I am also helping and improving you, our neighbors, our
families, our community, our country, and our world. I think this is the most important lesson
that I learned.
Imagine the power that we have together as we combine our efforts to strive to become all that we
are capable of becoming as we aim to bloom into a full reflection of love. We are free to improve ourselves more and
more each day.
Here are some additional insights from the Self-Love
Challenge author, Daylle Deanna Schwartz:
Summary of the “10
Commitments of Self-Love“ from the author of How Do I
Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways, Daylle Deanna Schwartz:
- I shall lovingly accept myself as I am
right now.
- I shall appreciate all the beauty that
makes me who I am.
- I shall regularly give thanks for all of
my blessings.
- I shall trust in my ability to take care
of myself.
- I shall not criticize myself.
- I shall not criticize others.
- I shall forgive myself when I make a
mistake.
- I shall be kind to others, without
sacrificing my own needs.
- I shall take responsibility for my life.
- I shall love myself to the best of my
ability.
Okay, shall we start the next initiative? I’ll be doing some thinking about what the
next topic of exploration should be. So,
what’s on your list? Feel free to share
your requests/insights/ideas!
Happy growing!
