Loving the Most Important Person in Your Life

I'm sure that there are lots of things that you really love. You may love your parents, your husband/wife, your girl friend/boyfriend and your children. You may love your car, your home or even your new mobile phone.

But let me ask you a question that may seem really weird, 'do you love yourself?' Do you love that person you see in the mirror every day? If you find that you have many things in life to be grateful for but are still not happy with, the reason may be because you have not learnt to love yourself.

In order to be HAPPY and SUCCESSFUL, you have to start by loving yourself. The reason why many people feel lousy about themselves and fail to achieve is because they don't like who they are.

Many people think that they must first become successful before they start loving themselves and their life. In fact, the opposite is true. You must first love yourself before you can become successful. People who love and feel good abut themselves have what is called HIGH SELF-ESTEEM.

The Most Important Person In Your Life Is...

Let me give you the most important reason why you should love yourself.

Imagine that there was someone whom you have to spend the rest of your life with. You had to spend every minute of every day with this person, day in and day out. This person is the first you see when you wake up in the morning and the last person you see when you go to sleep.

This person is there on all your life's special occasions: your birthday, Christmas, New Year, your wedding and finally, your funeral. This person is there during all of your life's ups and downs. This person shares your sorrows and your joys.

When you are down, only this person can cheer you up. When you fall, only this person can pick you up. When you set a goal, only this person can give you the motivation and confidence to achieve it. This person will never leave you and is the only one you can truly depend on.

If you didn't like this person, wouldn't your life be absolutely miserable? You'd be forever stuck to a person you didn't like. You wouldn't be able to do anything! I am sure you can guess that this person is YOU!

YOU are the most important person in your own life.

The Power of Loving Yourself

When you really love someone, you always want the very best for him or her, right? You would do anything for them. You would make sacrifices for them and defend them if anyone speaks badly of them.

The same thing goes when you love yourself.

When you love yourself, you will want the very best for yourself. You would not accept anything less than the best for yourself. You will want the best relationships, the best career, the best partner and the best home. You will not accept being in an abusive relationship. You will not accept being stuck in a job you hate. You will not accept a mediocre life that is going nowhere.

In other words, those who love themselves dream big and set high standards for themselves. At the same time, you would be willing to work hard and make sacrifices for yourself. You will be willing to sacrifice the effort to go to the gym, to read a self-improvement book and to avoid unhealthy foods that are bad for you.

When You Like Yourself, People Will Start to Like You

When I talk about loving yourself, I am not talking about being an arrogant, egotistical braggart who looks at your self every ten minutes and boastfully says, 'I am the greatest'. Nobody likes people like that!

In fact, people who really love themselves never boast or show off! They don't need to. They already feel good about themselves inside.

When you like yourself, you will feel good about yourself. You will have the confidence to take on challenges, make friends and be outgoing. You will smile a lot and talk positively about yourself and others. People who feel good about themselves see the good in others and give them sincere encouragement and praise.

This confidence and positive attitude will make you really charming and attractive to others. People will start to admire and respect you. People love being around positive people because it makes them feel good as well.

What Happens When You Don't Love Yourself?

On the other hand, teens who hate themselves tend to remain unhappy and unsuccessful. When you don't like yourself, you tend to put yourself down, think negatively of yourself and set low personal standards.

Back in secondary school, I remember asking one of my friends Stan which University he was aiming to go for. He said, ' I don't want to go to the university.' 'With a university degree, you can get a much better job and live a more comfortable life. You can get success, respect and more money," I said. He replied, 'who cares?'

At the time, I couldn't understand why Stan would not care about his own future. Later I realized it was because Stan did not like himself very much. In his mind, he did not think he deserved a great life. He believed that only other people who were better deserved such a successful life.

So, begin the journey of success and happiness by first loving yourself!

By Adam Khoo