Updated: 5/3/2018 (corrected author)

By Saraya Storm

Love yourself for all that you are. For when you do, the world will fall in love with your spirit. In a society where our beauty standards are defined by the vain and the unrealistic physical assets modified by both computer-aided procedures as well as very real ones, where do we look up to for self-assurance? You start with you… Assess yourself.  What are your favorite things about yourself? Fall in love with what makes you different. Accept yourself for all that you are. And lastly, stop accepting your negative thoughts. One of my guilty pleasures are quotes; one of my favorites reads, “And if I asked you to name all the things that you love, how long would it take for you to name yourself?” I decided at that moment, falling in love with myself was going to be the foundation for all of my happiness and that I would never be truly happy until I did. Though those words cut deep, they lit the fire that would spread from my core to my outer aura.

When I started doing things that made me happy, my energy reflected that and drew out the happiness and self-acceptance from those around me. Fall in love with taking care of yourself: physically, mentally and spiritually. I believe that people need to find one thing that betters him or her and make it a point to implement that in their life every single day. For me, it was adopting a plant-based diet. Though it is a decision to physically better myself, I became enamored with the decision because it meant that, on the daily, I was doing something for me… No matter how crazy and stressful my day became, when it came time to eat, I was never putting that stress above the commitment I had to myself. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had because it is making an effort to do something for myself, every single day and I believe it is the cornerstone for a happy and motivated mindset.

Try to surround yourself with those that truly love you. But you will see that when you surround yourself with positive thoughts and self-love, the life you seek and crave will effortlessly fall into place around you. Heal yourself: your doubts, your insecurities, and your unhappiness, for self-love, is the greatest medicine.