I am struggling to comprehend so many things happening in the world today, but one baffles me a lot because it sometimes costs people their lives. I ask a lot of times why we complicate things when there is an easy solution, something that costs you nothing to do. I came across the news about the death of a female dancer who died from complications of a belly tuck surgery. I have seen her videos a few times, and yes, she’s good at what she does.
While scrolling through the comment section of her death post, I saw a lot of comments about cyberbullying and body shaming. A lot of people blamed those who always dropped negative comments about her body shape, forcing her to settle for a belly tuck surgery that ended her life.
I definitely do not support cyberbullying or body shaming because it’s one terrible thing anyone can go through. The impact on the victim’s emotional well-being is horrible, and it’s one of the negativities flying around that we must shield ourselves against. She’s not the biggest dancer I have seen on the internet; there are a lot of them, including guys who get negative comments always. But they keep showing up because they love themselves and what they are doing.
While people blame the negative comments, I blame the lack of self-love, which should be a priority for everyone in the world today. It’s an underrated feeling that has forced people into doing things they shouldn’t have considered because they don’t even know what it is.
Let’s consider self-love as a gentle flame that burns within every individual, radiating with warmth and light. This flame stands for your inner light that must be nurtured because it’s what makes us unique. It gives us a better understanding of our essence and who we are. This light burns differently, but what matters is ensuring it’s burning. Tending to it brings positive changes to our lives, and it boosts our confidence a lot. The worst thing that can happen to anyone is allowing the flame to go off because, the moment it’s gone, we’ve paved the way for negativity, and it would throw everything at us just to tear us apart.
Loving yourself costs nothing, but it can be challenging for a lot of people to do. Despite the struggles, it’s something worth doing because it helps discover your sense of purpose, belonging, and happiness. It will help you learn to love and accept yourself, including the flaws, because you will also understand that nobody was made to perfection. We can’t force people to love us when we don’t even love ourselves. It’s like owning a pastry shop but preferring to eat the products from another pastry shop while you expect others to patronise you.
I have my ways of fueling my inner light regarding this topic "Self-love" and will mention a few, hoping it helps someone out there. Self-acceptance is the first thing on my list and it has to do with embracing your uniqueness, strengths, and weaknesses because everyone has at least one. Embracing these things makes you understand that you are worthy of love and respect, regardless of your flaws. It’s only when we accept ourselves that others can accept us; people treat us how we treat ourselves.
Self-forgiveness also plays a crucial role because not all flaws are natural. There are flaws that slipped into our lives out of negligence. Forgiving ourselves is the first way to handle the flaws. Forgive yourself, embrace the flaws, and put in effort to correct things if it’s possible. Self-care is not exempted, and it’s one of the things I enjoy doing the most. Engaging in activities I love helps me stay refreshed and occupied, shutting my mind to any form of negativity around.
Lastly, I would encourage practicing gratitude because it works for me. Someone was talking to me about his upbringing the other day, and I almost cried because my experience was nowhere near what he experienced as a kid. It means our situation isn’t the worst, but until we are grateful for what we are or what we have, it would be difficult to love or appreciate ourselves. Practicing self-love comes with so many benefits, and it makes life a lot better.
Are you struggling with self love or you have that special way of practicing it, feel free to share with us in the comment section.