Loving Your Emotional Self: Understanding and Respecting Your Own Feelings
Previously, in the last lesson, we looked at ways that you can use to love your body. Today, we talk about your emotions.
Possibly the single most important facet of loving yourself is taking great care of your emotional self. What you believe is true about yourself illustrates the degree to which you love and accept yourself.
Try these tips to love yourself more by taking care of your emotional being:
1. Accept yourself. Realize that you’re as important, special, and worthy as every other human being on earth. Connect deeply with this reality.
○ Use this as an affirmation: “I am important, special, and worthy.” Try saying the affirmation out loud. Repeat it. Write it down. Then, read it to yourself. Do this twice per day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Watch for subtle shifts in the way you view yourself.
2. Journal. Write in a journal about what you really like about yourself.
○ Journaling helps you connect with all of your strengths. The time you spend writing down your thoughts is an opportunity to cultivate positivity about all of your best qualities. On an emotional level, you can most easily relate to positive feelings about yourself when you recognize your own strengths.
3. Claim responsibility for your own life. Often we try to find external reasons for why something happened, such as, “Why does he keep hurting me?” or, “What makes her think I deserve this treatment?” Instead, take responsibility.
○ Ask yourself, “Since I’m responsible for myself, what do I need to do right now to remedy this situation for me?”
○ Once you claim responsibility for your own life, you’ll fully consider the ramifications of your choices to stay in less than ideal situations. Over time, you’ll begin to make decisions to disconnect from people, places, and things that consistently harm you in some way.
○ Take the time to consider what’s best for you in life. This is an enormous expression of the love you have for your own self.
4. Avoid negativity toward yourself. A person who loves herself avoids sending herself negative messages.
○ You can practice avoiding negativity and still acknowledge that no one is perfect. Being human doesn’t mean that you deserve scorn, shame, or ridicule. Instead of beating yourself up emotionally, direct your energies toward turning any situation into something positive.
5. Forgive others. You’ll feel less burdened by unwanted negative feelings when you cultivate forgiveness.
○ Of course, it’s also okay to decide that even though you forgive someone, continuing to be involved with that person isn’t healthy for you. When you forgive them first, however, you can move on without the extra emotional baggage of hurt and angry feelings.
6. Send out positive vibes to others. Show other people how loving, caring and kind you are. Often, we get immersed in our daily grind and don’t notice all the opportunities we have to make someone’s day. Showing positivity and kindness toward everyone can be intensely refreshing. When you do this, you make it obvious to others that you love yourself.
7. Say you’re sorry if you are. Notice within yourself when you’ve made an error or had a misstep. Then, openly acknowledge it. This shows you’re a genuine, caring human being.
○ You’ll ultimately feel very good about apologizing when it’s required. Saying you’re sorry is a deeply satisfying experience that will help you to love and respect yourself even more.
8. Let go of any negative feelings you hold toward others. Cleansing yourself of as much negativity as possible sets you up for success in life. You feel better emotionally and physically, act more openly toward others, and demonstrate love to yourself. Lighten your emotional load by letting go of negativity.
9. Have self-respect. Refuse to allow anyone to emotionally harm you. Set guidelines within yourself about tolerating unsavory treatment from others. Having limits and boundaries is healthy and shows that you protect and respect yourself in all situations.
10. If you dislike the way someone treats you, leave their presence, if possible. Doing so will be the gateway toward reclaiming your self-respect and self-love.
○ Exit negative relationships, regardless of how scary that may feel. Ultimately, your love for yourself will be stronger than for someone who’s less than positive toward you.
In essence, understanding and acknowledging your own feelings validates your existence. By being honest with yourself about your feelings and taking action in accordance with them, you honor and show love to yourself.
In the next lesson, you’ll discover how you can love your intellectual self.
Here’s what you need to do today:
Forgive someone. Are you having trouble forgiving someone that has hurt you? Take a leap of faith and forgive them. See how this small, but difficult, act lightens your own load and helps to set you free from the negative emotions you’ve been carrying from this situation.