The concept of self love and self-awareness cannot be completed without one another. They are both equally important in the process of growing as individuals. Although some people have their own definition of what it truly means to have self love and self awareness, it is something we all should practice.
The meaning of ‘self love’ is in the word itself; loving yourself. It means being able to appreciate that -- yes, you are a person with many flaws, but you should not hurt yourself over it. As a person who used to struggle with low-self esteem, I’ve had moments where I didn’t even realize just how mean I was being towards myself. Why do I say to myself the self-degrading things that I would never say to another person? It’s because we forget that we are worthy of our love, too.
Once we show ourselves the love we deserve, this is where self-awareness comes into play. It’s being able to love myself and love myself enough to try to improve my flaws. Only by stepping into that mindset of complete vulnerability and deep personal honesty, can you truly see everything in a different perspective. Understand that self-awareness does not stop you from making mistakes, it allows you to learn from it. Instead of just saying “I’m stubborn, but it’s okay because that’s just who I am”, acknowledge that you’re stubborn, but ask yourself, “what can I do to improve myself?”. With self-awareness, you can have a better perception of your values, personality, needs, habits, and emotions.
Accepting that there is always room for improvement and wanting to build on that area of weaknesses and strengths will help push you to become the better version of who you are. So love yourself, but also analyze and be critical of how you think, act, and behave. Self love without self awareness is useless; hold yourself accountable.
The meaning of ‘self love’ is in the word itself; loving yourself. It means being able to appreciate that -- yes, you are a person with many flaws, but you should not hurt yourself over it. As a person who used to struggle with low-self esteem, I’ve had moments where I didn’t even realize just how mean I was being towards myself. Why do I say to myself the self-degrading things that I would never say to another person? It’s because we forget that we are worthy of our love, too.
Once we show ourselves the love we deserve, this is where self-awareness comes into play. It’s being able to love myself and love myself enough to try to improve my flaws. Only by stepping into that mindset of complete vulnerability and deep personal honesty, can you truly see everything in a different perspective. Understand that self-awareness does not stop you from making mistakes, it allows you to learn from it. Instead of just saying “I’m stubborn, but it’s okay because that’s just who I am”, acknowledge that you’re stubborn, but ask yourself, “what can I do to improve myself?”. With self-awareness, you can have a better perception of your values, personality, needs, habits, and emotions.
Accepting that there is always room for improvement and wanting to build on that area of weaknesses and strengths will help push you to become the better version of who you are. So love yourself, but also analyze and be critical of how you think, act, and behave. Self love without self awareness is useless; hold yourself accountable.