Self-love isn’t about being narcissistic. It’s not about “me, me, me.” It’s not about fighting the world to express ourselves or to get what we want. Self-love is about looking at ourselves through the eyes of a loving mother, without judgement, and with unconditional compassion. Self-love is simply about owning our own power and acting from a place of kindness toward ourselves. With love in air during Valentine’s Day, all things chocolate and hearts and date nights, there is still a space to “Share the Love” with yourself! Most feel, you cannot truly be able to love another unless you know and understand love for yourself!

1. We feel at peace. We accept ourselves— including our strengths and weaknesses — unconditionally.

2. We become responsible for our lives. We recognize that we are the source of all happiness. We are the source of the power to change our futures, careers, relationships, passion, compassion, empathy, and authenticity.

3. We let go of loneliness and embrace a deeper connection and sense of oneness with the world.

4. We allow ourselves to show up in the world and live our purpose.

5. The more we look at ourselves with love, the more we practice love and acceptance toward others. We let go of thoughts that negate our reality (the “shoulda, coulda’s), and we become lovers of what is.

6. We allow ourselves to be human. We accept mistakes and failures, and we invite vulnerability into our lives.

7. We don’t need to prove ourselves to others, because we know that we’re enough.

8. We are no longer ruled by fear, because we know that love is the strongest power of all. When we choose love over fear, we become stress-free beings.

Stay tuned because next week we will finish discussing the 18 awesome side effects of practing self-love!