{"id":21998,"date":"2011-03-09T14:01:14","date_gmt":"2011-03-09T19:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/21998\/learning-love-real\/"},"modified":"2011-03-09T14:01:14","modified_gmt":"2011-03-09T19:01:14","slug":"learning-love-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/21998\/learning-love-real\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning to Love the Real You"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><object><\/object><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i57.photobucket.com\/albums\/g208\/ammango\/angel_love\/love\/self-love.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><span style=\"font-size: large\"><strong>Learning to Love the Real You<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.healyourlife.com\/author-madisyn-taylor\/2011\/02\/wisdom\/personal-growth\/because-youre-beautiful\" target=\"_blank\"> <span style=\"font-size: small\">by Madisyn Taylor<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><span style=\"font-size: large\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><em><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\">True self-love unlocks the power to love others.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\">We have all heard it countless times before: \u201cTo experience true love, we first must love ourselves,\u201d or some such variation. However it is stated, the importance of self-love is vital to becoming a healthy, whole human being. We are all children of the universe, created out of love. We accept and love other people, animals, nature . . . all that comes from the same source we do. We too, then, are worthy of our own love. To honor oneself with caring and acceptance is to honor the universe that created us.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\">Self-love is about fully embracing ourselves, realizing our strengths and accepting our flaws. It is not about being self-centered or self-absorbed, which is based on insecurity and not knowing ourselves. True self-love is a guarantee that we will not succumb to such selfish pursuits. For if we truly love ourselves, we know that we do not need to be the best looking or most talented or have the most possessions. When we love ourselves, we are able to give love freely to others without fear of being hurt or used. We love ourselves enough not to allow others to take advantage of us. And when we are secure in our love of self, we attract the love of others.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\">To learn to love yourself, treat yourself the way you treat those you care about. Be kind to yourself, giving yourself all you need to be happy and healthy. Show yourself a good time by doing things you like. Eat well and take care of your body. Say nice things to yourself. Compliment and praise yourself, just as you would a friend, family member, or lover. Encourage yourself when you are feeling down.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\">And most important, say the words that we all long to hear. Look in the mirror and tell yourself, \u201cI love you.\u201d This can be difficult, but it is a powerful tool in acceptance and self-love. It may not be easy\u2014you may feel foolish at first\u2014but you can do it. Even if you do not feel it right away, keep doing it. Love yourself first, and you will be able to truly love others and to be truly loved in return.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i57.photobucket.com\/albums\/g208\/ammango\/angel_love\/love\/love2\/HAPPYWOMANBEACH.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"357\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\">Many of us do not take the time to notice and acknowledge how beautiful we are as human beings. We may be great lovers of beauty, seeing it in the people, places, and things around us, while completely missing it in ourselves. Some of us feel that it is vain to consider our appearance too much, or we may find that when we look at ourselves, all we see are imperfections. Often we look in the mirror with expectations and preconceived notions that blind us from seeing ourselves clearly. As a result, we miss the beauty that is closest to us, the beauty we are.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\">Sometimes we see beauty in a shallow way, noticing how well we are conforming to social norms, but failing to see the deeper kind that shines out from within and will continue to do so regardless of how we measure up to society\u2019s ideals.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\">If we can cut through all these obstacles and simply appreciate how beautiful we are, we free up so much energy. We also become less dependent upon the opinions and feedback of others since we become our own greatest admirers. Many of us know that after a great yoga practice or a long, deep meditation, we are better able to see how beautiful we are. This is because we have released some of our baggage, thus unburdening ourselves and summoning forth the spirit that dwells within us. It is the heady combination of the divine spirit and the human body that conveys beauty more accurately than anything else.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\">To keep ourselves in touch with our own beauty, we can surround ourselves with images that reflect it back to us\u2014photos of a relative who has our eyes, images of teachers who embody the same spirit, or self-portraits that capture our essence in a way that allows us to see ourselves anew. The best way to stay in touch with our beauty is to keep looking deeply into our own souls and opening our eyes to the human beings we see in the mirror every day.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/i57.photobucket.com\/albums\/g208\/ammango\/angel_love\/love\/love2\/mirror-love-hand.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"349\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: small\">Love &amp; Light,<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.friendburst.com\/Angel_Love\">\u2665Angel Love\u2665<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><span style=\"font-size: small\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i57.photobucket.com\/albums\/g208\/ammango\/angel_love\/hearts\/friendship-hugs.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"151\" \/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #333399\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><span style=\"font-size: small\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>True self-love unlocks the power to love others.<\/p>\n<p>We have all heard it countless times before: \u201cTo experience true love, we first must love ourselves,\u201d or some such variation. However it is stated, the importance of self-love is vital to becoming a healthy, whole human being. We are all children of the universe, created out of love. We accept and love other people, animals, nature . . . all that comes from the same source we do. We too, then, are worthy of our own love. To honor oneself with caring and acceptance is to honor the universe that created us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[353,69,32,2232,2438,2439],"class_list":["post-21998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-beauty","tag-life-2","tag-love","tag-meditation","tag-self-love","tag-universe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21998\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}