Embrace Your True Self (Part 1 of 2)

What is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your loved ones? It is to practice self-love. Loving and respecting yourself more than anyone else is important because if you're not happy, successful, life-affirming and healthy, you're not much use to anyone.

Some people always put others before them, and this is a very natural thing to them; they're genuinely selfless and sympathetic. However, they might forget who they are and lose themselves in the process. They begin to get depressed, lose focus and ambition and ponder what happened to their life to make them journey to this point. The answer is simple - they let their obligations and responsibilities get in the way of fulfilling their life's destiny and, in short, they lost themselves to others.

Therefore, how does one who has become lost be found again?

Nobody was born disliking how they looked. As infants and young children, we were naturally self-loving. But we were taught to become insecure about our appearance as we grew up. So, reclaim that birthright. Fall in love with yourself all over again. See what you can do to enhance your appearance. We all can look better by paying more attention to our wardrobe, grooming, fitness and how we carry ourselves, instead of going through cosmetic surgery or crash course in dieting. Vanity can be healthy if the person you're trying to impress is none other than yourself.

Now that you've worked on the outside, it's time to work on the inside. What is stopping you presently? What will set you free?

There are millions of people running around on autopilot - finding themselves consumed by everyday life and the expectations of others that they've forgotten to care about the most important person in their lives - themselves.

If we continue to neglect ourselves, what's going to happen (and that's already affecting thousands of elderly people today) is that we're going to eventually find ourselves in a place of sadness and loneliness. Because in all our running around and tending to everybody's wishes and needs, we allowed our own problems and dissatisfactions to simmer and fester. How do we do everything for everybody and for ourselves, too? We can't. We have to accept that fact. There will be times that you will not present for someone because a part of you needs your love and time. And that's ok. You have to help yourself too, you know.