What does Self-Love comprise of?

Most of us know what self-love is but do not understand it. You eat because you understand that you need nourishment. It is sad that most of us are trying to conquer external battles like finding success, or finding happiness, but we do not understand that self-love is the root from which everything grows.

Self-love as explained previously, is more than just wearing nice attire. Self-love is an umbrella term for different acts of love we perform toward ourselves physically and non-physically. To love yourself is not an act of selfishness, it is an act of kindness toward others because when you love yourself, others don’t have to deal with your unresolved problems.

Self-love comprises four aspects: self-awareness, self-worth, self-esteem and self-care.

If one is missing, then you do not entirely have self-love. To have it, we should be aligned with these four aspects.

Self-awareness

Self-awareness is being aware of your thought processes: your thoughts, how they affect your emotions, and how emotions cause you to act. Are you aware of the thoughts that make you feel angry and make you act impulsively? Where are they coming from, and why are they there? Why do they cause you to act the way that you do? It is stepping out of yourself to examine yourself. Self-awareness is the key to emotional intelligence. What makes you mad might not stop making you mad, but you will know how to respond effectively or how to not respond at all. People with high emotional intelligence have emotions just like we do. But they step out of their emotions to process them effectively. This also includes moving away or avoiding situations that you know will trigger certain undesirable feelings and reactions within you.

Self-worth

Because of the continuous negative programing that we face in society, we focus on the bad and unpleasant things and project this negativity onto ourselves so often without even realizing it. You are born with an endless sea of potential; you have it now and you will have it till the day you die. Just like we cannot create or destroy energy, we can only explore or hide potential. Self-worth is the beliefs we have about ourselves, and often we struggle to believe in ourselves. This is because of past unfortunate circumstances we have been through that we have not fully shaken off. Everyone has something good about them. Self-worth is not determined by anything; you don’t have to do anything to be worth it. You just are. Know that and understand that. Your strengths, talents, and kind acts towards other people are just an expression of your self-worth.

Self-esteem

Self-esteem results from self-worth. A high sense of self-worth results in high self-esteem. Self-worth is the realization that we are valuable regardless of what we have achieved or the qualities we may have; self-esteem is more tied to our qualities and achievements. When you develop a sense of self-worth, self-esteem will come more naturally. Self-esteem has everything to do with being content and comfortable with who you are, where you are, and what you have. If you want self-esteem, improve your self-worth. Remind yourself every day that you need not justify your existence.

Self-care

This aspect has more to do with the physical but it is not entirely physical. Self-care is all the acts we do to keep ourselves healthy, like taking a bath, eating a balanced diet, staying hydrated, and doing things that we love. Compared to the other aspects of self-love, self-care is easier to do. It is best to start here on your journey toward discovering self-love.