Around this time of year a plethora of websites, magazines, newspapers and more start touting ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Everywhere you look you’re likely seeing messages like “get her the perfect gift,” “show your Valentine you love them with (insert product here),” or even “wine and dine your Valentine at (insert restaurant here).” This year, I’d like to suggest that we focus on loving ourselves for a change. Regardless of if you’re in a relationship or not, let’s love ourselves first. Below are just a few ideas you can use to fall back in love, or perhaps fall in love for the first time, with the most important person in the world – you!
- Make a list of all of your amazing qualities. When is the last time you said something nice to yourself? I’m going to guess that the odds are there has been a lot of negative self talk. Saying things like “I’m so stupid,” “I messed up again,” “I’m no good with money,” “I’m terrible with organization,” and other negative messages bring us down. Instead, challenge yourself to write down all the wonderful things about you. Can you come up with 5? Fabulous – go further! I dare you to write down 25 or 50 things that are positive about you. I’ll bet by the end of it, you’ll feel better about yourself.
- Buy yourself a Valentine’s Day gift. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It could be a book or song download. Just make sure it’s something that is 100% for you.
- Take yourself on a date. When is the last time you did something that was fun for yourself? Something that didn’t depend on anyone’s happiness but your own? Perhaps it’s a chick-flick or action movie your significant other doesn’t want to see. Maybe you want a quiet stroll through the park. Or you might want to just people watch at the mall. Give yourself permission to take time for you.
- Tell yourself that you love yourself. For many people this one feels a little silly. However, the more often you do it, the better you will feel about yourself, and the more you will start to believe it. Look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I love you!”
- Write a love note to yourself. What sweet musings would you tell yourself? You could simply say something along the lines of “you did a great job at work today,” or “you nailed it with dinner – that’s the best chicken cacciatore you’ve ever made!” Love notes to ourselves are a great reminder of all of the good things we do.
The idea with falling in love, or back in love with yourself is to realize that you matter. You deserve love. When we fall in love with ourselves, we see how valuable we are. You are loved. Happy Valentine’s Day.