When we appreciate and love ourselves we easily find ways to grow our personal energy. Our energy comes from taking good care of our bodies, from challenging our minds, and from our relationships.
Learning to accept and love ourselves is vital for our self esteem. Yet many of us were raised with messages that to love ourselves is selfish. We were taught to love others instead of ourselves. The result is self depreciation. We all know that there is an extreme to self love that is called narcissism. Narcissists do not know how to love others. That is not the self love I am talking about. I am referring to the fact that by loving ourselves we value who we are. This ability to value who we are makes it possible for us to love others.
When loving self is viewed through the value lens it becomes possible to see others as equally valuable. Energy is not wasted on envy, fear, proving oneself, putting others down rather it is used for self. It also follows that people who care about themselves do not want to limit their energy by abusing drugs, alcohol, prescription drugs or letting others abuse them. Instead they want to build and use their energy to live life to the fullest.
Self-worth comes from building a strong personal foundation.
