well, first of all, thank you for attributing me the word ‘poetic’, i deeply appreciate it when people compliment parts of me other than my mere physique. okay so you seem to appreciate my long answers, huh? okay, i will delve into the response of this question right now.
i agree with what you’re saying. it is true that in our age, because of the overwhelmingly easy access we have to social media, the way we look at and perceive ourselves can drastically be influenced by our societies’ standards. we fall into the self defeating act of comparison, picturing others as our goals just to leave our own selves asking the universe ‘why can’t i be more like them?’ this is why the art of self care and love is really hard to master nowadays, you are entirely right.
i am only seventeen years old but i’ve already lost myself a couple of times because there have been moments where i’ve forgotten how essential self love is. so, from my experience, the first thing to do, the first step to take towards self love is to notice that we stopped loving ourselves. because so very often, we are quite consumed by our lives and slowly, we get used to not taking care of ourselves. it becomes a routine. how many times have you gone hellishly late to bed because of school assignments or work that you brought home? how many times have you denied yourself a meal because you had other priorities above your own self? how many times have you delayed your appointment at the doctor’s because you thought that your health didn’t matter that much? i’m sure these can all happen to us from time to time but some of them become habits and that is not okay. you should love yourself enough to put your own damn self above other priorities that aren’t as essential as the maintaining of your own existence.
later on, when you have noticed your lack of self love, what can you do to improve the situation? i am going to list down some of the things i do:
- going to bed early. yes, just as simple as that but it can make a whole lot of difference. even when i have to study for an exam, i choose to go to bed early when i feel exhausted.
- instead of following my disordered eating orders, i try to tell myself that it is not okay to skip meals. not even when i haven’t moved from my desk throughout the day, not even when i had a heavy breakfast, not even when i reached one of my goal weights. it is never okay. (unless i’m sick or my stomach is having a bad day, of course).
- i sometimes let myself spend an unproductive day and that’s okay! i’m not a complete failure just because i spent the whole entire day scrolling through tumblr… hehe
- instead of thinking negatively about myself, i try (really really hard because it’s not easy at all) to change the shape my thoughts are taking. for example, let’s say i’m thinking ‘god, i am so stupid!’. so instead of breaking down because i got a bad grade at my maths exam (yes, it has happened), i try to think ‘it’s okay, i have to work harder for the upcoming exam!’. little changes like these will help you through the path of self love, i promise.
i know this whole post might sound more like an ‘introduction to self care’ kind of thing but that is only because self care and self love are quite similar to me. if you care enough about yourself, you can potentially reach the self love stage and if you love yourself enough, you can potentially reach the self care stage. i still have to work on this logic tho.
i hope you’re having a nice day/night and TAKE CARE!! xx