Loving Yourself

This past weekend, my husband and I took a road trip to celebrate family, friends, and his birthday.  I absolutely love road trips (not long ones – my patience is growing weary as I age) because it gives me a chance to look outside a window and exist.  Sometimes I sleep to recharge.  Sometimes I write because I’m inspired.  Sometimes I do nothing at all.  Point is:  it allows me to get away from the hustle and bustle (as my Dad would say) find a quieter place in the corner of my mind where I can just dream, be inspired, and think.

This past weekend my thoughts were on self.  Myself.  Where I’d come from as a person and a young woman.  My life goes through phases, along with a lot of opportunities to learn and grow from each one.  Every part of my life has shaped and molded me into this person I am today.  I’ve gone so many experiences! From fake friendships, to constantly being questioned about my personality because I wasn’t a crowd follower, made aware that I was a little off beat at times, and even “reminded” at times that I have skin that’s darker than a paper bag.  The world can be cruel, but through it all, I absolutely L♥VE myself.

One of the things I love passing down to other women is that no matter where you are in life, the road to wherever you’re going starts where you are.  Loving yourself included.  To love thyself is not found in the swipe of a credit card, although retail therapy can help a bad day.  It’s not found in a mate nor the color lipstick or nail polish you wear to get that mate.  It’s not in your status in life.  Loving yourself is the God-given strength and a made up mind that no matter how life may beat you down, you have the will within to get right back up.  You, yourself, can actually be your worst critic.  However, I dare you look inside yourself and find out what it is that you love about you.  It’s definitely worth trying.

So even at this age, I’ve just recently had another phase in life – realizing who my true friends are and who are not (Wedding planning will do that)…and the list is slim!  Through the loss has given me triple gain, with new & improved friendships.  I love my quirky personality (I gave the shout out here) and I love that my uniqueness makes me who I am.  And my skin:  the color of sweet, milk chocolate.  Let no one ever make you feel like you’re inferior because of the skin tone you possess (Shout out to Wale ::wink::). I don’t wish, worry, or want to look like something other than what God made me to look like.  Have the same confidence for you!  If you’re the whitest, lightest, greenest, or darkest of them all,  Ladies and Gents – LOVE YOURSELVES!

What it all boils down to is you and how you want to feel about yourself.  It’s true we desire to be loved and accepted by others, but if you decide to wait on that to define and love who you are, you’ll be waiting until the end of time!  God gave us the ability to start…now it all starts with you.  You wake up with yourself every morning, so the only opinion that really matters is yours!