Step Five
Step Five –
Depending upon where you are in life, Step Five may be the most important. If you get this one right, most of the other steps are benefited too.
Step Five is LOVE.
Love has all kinds of interpretations and all kinds of problems and baggage attached to it. It is a huge subject that has filled libraries with books, galleries with art and battlefields with bodies.
There are as many interpretations of love as there are people. However, there is one kind of love that is common to most and it is the most important to understand. It is the love of self.
You can have the best home life, the best education and the best looks but if you don’t love yourself what good is it? Everybody can think you are the greatest and they all want to be you but if you don’t love yourself none of this matters.
Loving yourself is THE most important action you can take.
How do you love yourself? Do you just wrap your arms around yourself and give it a great big hug? Do you go out and buy yourself some exotic trip or shiny object that makes you feel good for a short while? Do you blow kisses to the mirror?
None of the above. There is one and only one way to love yourself. You love yourself by choosing what thoughts you consistently dwell upon.
No one can stop random thoughts, good or bad, from entering their mind but everyone has the choice to either continue dwelling on thoughts that feel bad or to change the channel and think a different thought.
Ask yourself from time to time “how am I feeling?”. If you are feeling fine, carry on. If you are not feeling fine, take a look at what you have been thinking about. Have you been building yourself up? Have you been putting a positive spin on your plans for the future? That’s love. Or have you been criticizing yourself for something in your past for the umpteenth time or maybe harshly judging the way you look? That’s not love.
How do you know if you are loving yourself or just being selfish? That’s easy. If you find yourself without empathy for other people you are being selfish.
Loving yourself or not loving yourself determines most of the relationships you have. If you don’t love yourself you are going to try very hard to love someone else in the hopes that they will give you back the love you couldn’t give to yourself. It’s a gamble with worse odds than a casino.
Loving yourself means making choices that benefit you and do not harm you. Loving yourself means resting when you need to rest. Loving yourself means constantly being your own cheerleader. Loving yourself means severing any contact with toxic people.
Remember, no one on this planet should be allowed to belittle you. Not even you.
Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.
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