How to Celebrate Yourself this Valentine's Day! And Every Day After..
Happy Valentines day Queens . It’s the weekend of love and if you are on social media it is almost impossible to have missed all the posts of lovers around the world proclaiming their love to their special someone. As someone who’s a big romantic at heart, I love valentine’s day and all the romance that comes with it. Valentine’s day to me is not just about celebrating romantic love but also all the other types of love. Now I know that this day can be a tough day for some people as they are reminded of the fact that they still haven’t found their special someone. Or maybe you just went through a heartbreak and this day reminds you of a love that is no longer there. That’s why I want to spread some positivity and love on my blog today and encourage all of you out there who are single and might be feeling a bit down or lonely. This is to kindly remind you to celebrate yourself! Today, and every day after.
Loving yourself
In the past couple of years I have learned that whether I am in a relationship or not, the most important relationship I will ever have is the one with myself. No matter what happens or where I go, I will always be with myself. If I am honest, having a relationship with yourself is, like any other relationship, challenging and takes time and effort. It is simply going to take work. So since I realized that the relationship with myself is the most important relationship I will ever have, I decided several years ago to give another meaning to this day of love. Valentine’s day to me has now become a day about self-love. I truly believe that for now and forever the biggest love I have to cherish and cultivate is the love for myself. Before we focus on loving someone else, I think the question we must propose ourselves is, do I love myself?
“People consciously and unconsciously learn how to treat you based on how you treat yourself and based on what you are willing to accept from them”
Self-love
Now I think it’s important to clarify the meaning of self-love. The term is often loosely used and therefore it can become quite vague as to what it really means. So let’s start with the definition of self-love. Cambridge English Dictionary says;
self -love; regard for one's own well-being and happiness.
If we take this definition into consideration we could say that self love is about appreciating yourself and connecting actions to that, that will support your well-being. It is about taking care about your personal needs and not sacrificing your happiness to please others.
Why is self-love so important? Because the truth is that we give what we have, so we treat others as we treat ourselves. More importantly, the way you believe and treat yourself sets the standard for others on how you demand to be treated. People consciously and unconsciously learn how to treat you based on how you treat yourself and based on what you are willing to accept from them. Therefore it is important to be self-aware! If this is the first time you are thinking about your level of self-love, I highly recommend you to ask yourself these questions: “How do I treat myself?” “What do I want in life?” “What do I value?” “What do I think I deserve?” “What makes me happy?”
25 tangible ways to practice self-love
Understanding and accessing this space of self love can really bring healing, peace and joy. Although it is important to practise self-love, I also understand that it can be hard to practise it on Valentine's day or even on the daily. How do you even start? Well, there are a bunch of small ways you can start practising self-love today and every day. Here are 25 tangible ways to practise self-love:
Dance
Read a book
Treat yourself
Tidy up your house
Take a nap and rest
Give yourself a facial
Create a vision board
Go for a walk in nature
Buy yourself fresh flowers
Practice the art of saying “no”
Bake something for yourself
Create a list of self-love affirmations
Write a love letter to your future self
Write a list of 20 things you love about yourself
Call a loved one and look for ways to be of service
Choose one thing you are good at and do it this week
Put on your favorite outfit and make up and take at least 5 selfies
Turn off your phone notifications and put on your favorite music album
Find out what your self-love language is and give more of this to yourself
Make yourself a hot beverage and set the mood with candle lights and music
Try something new; a healthy recipe, a workout class or learn a new language
Note your thoughts to paper (opt for a journal, voice memo or do a brain dump in your phone notes)
Commit to spending 30 minutes a day by yourself without interruptions (medidate, polish your nails, work out or do some gardening)
Give yourself a day off! Start by planning at least 1 day every quarter year. Definitely do this if you are working in a corporate environment and have a demanding job.
Hire a professional; whether it be a personal trainer, a coach, a therapist or counselor. Allow yourself the professional help you need!
Don’t forget that you are only human and we all have days where we are tempted to compare our (love) lives to others. But especially on this day off love, show yourself patience and compassion. Love yourself!
With love always,
Vanessa