I Love Me

I love myself.

There, I said it. And to be honest, it's no secret - I speak about it all the time across my social media platforms. I am a huge advocate of body positivity and self love and I spend as much time as I can encouraging other people to love and appreciate themselves and their bodies too. I grew up struggling to like myself, let alone love myself, and now that I've finally learnt to appreciate my body, my mind, every inch of myself, I work so hard to make sure that other people are able to do the same.

This was one of the best tweets I ever received... to know that sharing my self love journey so openly online helped to inspire and empower another is the best feeling!

It doesn't help that for years and years and years we have it drummed into our heads that to appreciate our looks is vanity. That to talk about all the things we are achieving and have going on for us is bragging. So often people who love themselves are branded as big headed and narcissistic. 

Shouldn't we be celebrating the fact that these people are living their best damn lives? These people have been able to rise above everything society and mainstream media enforces onto them about looking and being a certain way and are able to embrace themselves wholly for the person that they are? 

Loving yourself is no easy feat. It's a long, complex and time consuming journey. It's not a straight line from loathing to loving yourself. It's full of ups and downs; somedays you'll look in the mirror and feel bomb as hell. Other days you'll look in the mirror and feel like a blobfish. It's swings and roundabouts but with patience and time you'll get there! What we ought to be doing is helping people to embrace themselves, flaws and all, and assisting them in the best way we can to help them learn to love themselves.

Of course, we shouldn't forget that loving yourself and being proud of who you are and all that life is giving you comes with it's downside; bitterness and criticism from people who just don't understand. They don't share your mind set, they don't love themselves, they aren't proud of themselves and so to them, your actions are alien. And what do humans do when they don't understand something, when something's a little bit different to the norm? They try to destroy it. 

If I had a pound for every single time someone had criticised my looks, my achievements, told me I was big headed, vain or narcissistic, I would be a very rich lady. On the journey to loving myself, I have really heard it all, from people I called friends, people I've never met, even family! I've been called fat, I've been called a whale, I've been called obese, I've been told my boobs are too big, too saggy, I dress like a chav, I dress like a slut, I am a slut, my jobs are rubbish. I've been accused of lying about the work I do, lying about the things I've achieved, accused of photoshopping my body in photos for the likes... the list goes on and on and on.

The fact that I absolutely love myself and everything about my life drives people absolutely wild. 

But guys, come on! Life is so short - imagine if (God forbid) you dropped down dead tomorrow. How much of your life would you have spent stood in front of a mirror grabbing at the excess skin on your hips or your thighs, wishing it would disappear? How many hours would you have spent trying to emulate someone else's makeup or hairstyle in the mirror and ending up in tears because you just felt so gross in comparison? How many nights would you have spent lying there in your bed wishing you could just be so many pounds lighter, so many sizes smaller, have so and so's nose and longer hair? 

And how much of your life would you have spent feeling happy just to be you? 

Self love isn't about being the prettiest, or being the skinniest. It's not about having the biggest boobs, the sexiest curves, the most precise contour and perfect hair do. Self love is about embracing you exactly as you are in that moment. And it's not just about your looks, either! It's about your skills, your talents, embracing all that your life holds. Self love is about feeling good about you and the life that you're living. Above all that, self love is crucial and absolutely okay. 

But, most importantly of all, self love is unique to everyone. It differs from person to person - which is the beauty, and the exact point of self love. It's not about anyone else in the world, it's about you. 

You can be whatever size you like. You can look however you like, dress however you like. You can wear makeup, or wear none. Have long hair or short. Enjoy painting, singing, sports or reading. Have qualifications behind you or have none. Be rich, be poor. Be right wing or left. Love animals or hate them. Have children or don't. Believe in God or believe in none. Follow religion or don't. It doesn't matter. 

To recite an age-old cliche, everyone is unique! It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you, so long as you love you, exactly as you are. And if you alter how you look or how you live your life or what hobbies you choose to do in a week, a month, a year, it doesn't matter. You're allowed to love yourself at any and every stage of your life. Self love is allowed to constantly evolve with you, because lets be honest - what human ever stays the same?

Too fat, too curvy, saggy boobs, bad at makeup, photoshopped... the list of insults I have received about my looks goes on and on and on.

I absolutely love myself and my life. I'm super cute with a great body, I dress well, I'm ambitious, I'm smart, I can hold my own and I'm feisty. I'm pretty damn funny too! I have a number of qualifications behind me that some people thought I wouldn't achieve. I'm a successful career woman who has two great jobs, I live in a lovely house and I am surrounded by so many wonderful friends and family. Come on, what's not to love? 

It's never too late to begin loving yourself - it's something you have to work at every day but it will be the best thing you ever do. It doesn't stop with you, either. Make sure you always help the people around you to embrace and love themselves too. When we all learn to appreciate the people that we are, it's a sure fact that the world will be a far happier place. 

Take some of my thoughts on board, take some time to process them and think about what self love means to you and then tell me below what you love about yourself! 

Love from,

Florence Grace