The 3 Best Foods To Nurture Your Self Love

Lack of self-love is the basis of most feelings of unease. It is also the source of countless conflicts and bad decisions in life. It is a lack that leads to a multitude of erratic actions, such as constantly trying to prove one’s limits or the limits of others, eagerly seeking approval or turning affections into a battleground.

Love rests on three main pillars: respect, care and knowledge. Respect implies acceptance and appreciation. If you respect something, it means that you don’t need to be constantly questioning it, criticizing it, or trying to change it. You simply accept that it is the way it is and tolerate it that way. In other words, you confirm it.

Caring means that you relate to what you love in a way that promotes its growth and preservation. Both respect and care are closely related to knowledge: you cannot respect what you do not know, nor can you care for it and help it to grow if you do not know where its evolution is heading.

When there is self-love, there is also self-respect, self-care, in the broadest sense of this concept, and self-knowledge. When this does not exist, we navigate in the uncertainty of not knowing who we are and where we are going. There is also doubt in thoughts, feelings and actions: you start to question your mistakes and feel that you should be someone else to be able to live well. It is, in short, like experiencing an inner storm that never ceases. When this is the case, it ‘s time to nurture self-love. Below we suggest 3 key actions to do this.

Learn to see yourself with kindness to nurture self-love

It is likely that at some point in your life you have become convinced that “there is something bad” about you. Perhaps he was brought up in a way where they were always very aware of their mistakes or overemphasized them. That’s why it ‘s possible that you’ve gotten used to looking at yourself in this light: highlighting your mistakes and minimizing your efforts and achievements.

A secret is important to know: an unmistakable sign of lack of self-love is precisely this need, not only to criticize oneself, but also to question and disqualify others. Therefore, whoever pointed at you, or is pointing, is not doing very well with himself.

Learn to overcome this conditioning. Break the chain of thoughts that lead you to disqualify yourself all the time. Here’s the task: for every error or defect you identify, you need to find two virtues. Try to look at yourself with kindness and you will learn to like yourself.

Striving to be better increases your self-esteem

We are all worthy of respect and appreciation, just because we belong to the human species. Never forget that. Also don’t forget that the healthiest way to value what you do is conscious effort.

Effort is a powerful nourishment for self-love. Without realizing it, it gives you a sense of dignity that translates into respect for who you are and what you do. When you take the easy way out, without realizing it, just the opposite happens: you devalue what you get and, with that, what you are.

Effort does not mean going against your own desires or doing violence to reach your goals. It actually refers to the effort you put into what you freely do, so that it is done well and complete. It may imply that you call into question your will at some point, but at the same time it rewards you with a growing sense of self-love.

Understanding those who don’t value you

You can never be happy or satisfied with yourself if you maintain a strong dependence on the opinions of others. It’s not that someone wants to hurt you with their opinions (although they do sometimes), but hardly an opinion about you is sufficiently elaborate that it needs to be considered.

Do you think others spend hours and hours reflecting on you before issuing an opinion about who you are? Certainly not. Many act mechanically and drop sentences without thinking. For a critique to be considered, it should be very detailed and in-depth.

Think that maybe you’re not meeting that person’s needs or opinions, and that’s why he questions you. In the end, the problem is much more that person’s problem than yours. Your task in life is not to fit in with what others want, but to chart your own path. This journey and this process are unique and will often not please others. It’s a good idea to be aware that this is normal and happens to all of us.

One of the consequences of self-love is precisely the fact that it generates acceptance and appreciation from others. Those who like themselves generate a natural respect and appreciation in those around them. Loving yourself is a task you need to undertake and one that will bring you more satisfaction than any other.

Images courtesy of Margarita Kareva, Art TreeLight.