Love Me Tender

      How many times have I told myself, "I hate my legs, hips and butt!?" Too many times to count.  Or how many times have I told myself, " You're so fat!?"  I've had hundreds of these conversations to myself through the years .  What about you?  However, as  I get older they are becoming less and less because I have sloooowly learned to love myself or I just don't care anymore-lol!  I have to admit, I've been my worse enemy all these years and sometimes still find it hard to silence that judge in my mind.

     Learning to love yourself is important because it can truly affect your life and those around you.  However, in this day and age there is a lot of pressure on how you should look and what you should be and do. When faced with these challenges it can become difficult to  truly embrace and love ourselves because  we feel like we can never measure up.  The truth is, we can't! I don’t know about you but when I try to compare myself to those impossible standards or to anyone else, I always come out feeling like a loser. Stay away from the comparison trap-it's deadly!

      The world tells us we have to be the best at everything and there is constantly more pressure added daily.  It’s not enough to be just a stay- at- home mom anymore.  Instead, you have to do it wearing Channel! I guess my sweats and hole filled tees can't keep up with the show, What Not to Wear! To add to my stress of being a SAHM, I might feel like I have to be a business woman and an incredible cook who can prepare a  meal that impresses her  family and guests- every time! I don’t know about you, but if I can get a meal on the table without burning it and on time, then I am doing good!  No one likes feeling like a loser. So why do we continue to buy into the world’s view?  Aren’t we setting ourselves up for failure?

             A majority of the people today didn’t receive what was needed when they were growing up to help them develop an appreciative attitude.  This in fact, affected their adult years.  I believe that having a thankful heart is the key to contentment within yourself and the world in which you live. Unfortunately, because some of us lacked in our upbringing with parents that couldn’t teach this or pass this on, it truly has a negative impact on who we are today.  This has been going on from generation to generation. These restrictions caused us to develop belief systems centered around ideas that we are not worthy of love, abundance, peace, happiness, joy, prosperity, loving relationships, meaningful work or whatever else seems to negatively dominate your life.

     Learning to love yourself is the basis for accepting anything good in your life. You can say all the affirmations you want, do the  check lists in Self magazine, go to therapy or buy every self help book out there  but if you don't love yourself FIRST and foremost when it is all said and done , then all that  work you are doing will fall on faulty  ground. I’ve always loved the Proverbs 14:1 that says, “A wise woman builds her house(perception of who she is based off of God) but a foolish one tears it down( with all the lies the world feeds her).”

     Learning to love yourself and see yourself as God sees you will impact you in ways you never dreamed of. Building a secure foundation on the world’s standards will eventually bring you down and the people around you.  You can’t keep up!  You must  learn to be gentle with yourself and understand that you are perfect in the eyes of God and from that flows love towards everything else.  

Here are some things you can do to love yourself:

-Stop All Criticism about yourself. Hard to do, I know! Accept yourself exactly as you are. You are what you think about yourself.  When you approve of yourself, your changes are positive.
- Find 10 things you like about yourself and add to it daily. Start small and you will eventually come to appreciate the way God created you! After all you perfectly made in His imageJ

-Be gentle, kind and patient to yourself. Treat yourself as you would someone you really loved.
- Let your thoughts be kind to you! Kick any thoughts that are negative and refuse to think them.
-Support yourself. Find ways to support yourself. Have great friends and people around you that love you. Get rid of negative influences.
-Take care of your body. Learn about health and nutrition. Get pro-active for yourself. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and the only body you will ever have!
-Whisper sweet things about yourself to yourself! Speak positive affirmations over yourself and the areas you of your body or life you don’t like. 

     In the end, if you don’t love yourself, than how can anyone else?  You need to love yourself first before you can truly receive and enjoy the love from another human being. In what ways can you begin to love yourself more today?  

Movie Quotes Giveaway Contest 

1)Sometimes I wish I had never met you. Because then I could go to sleep at night not knowing there was someone like you out there

2)You spend all your time looking for love yet you feel nothing even when its staring you in the face I will love again but You will spend all your life knowing you turned your back on love and that makes you a hypocrite 

3)What do you want to marry me for anyhow?
So I can kiss you anytime I want.
4)Samantha: I have to ask you a question. It's a good one so think about it. If two people love each other, but they just can't seem to get it together, when do you get to that point of enough is enough?