Say "I Love You" to yourself. I know it sounds woo-woo and new-agey, but close your eyes and just say it.
Then notice how you feel in your body as you say it. Is the statement true - or are you lying to yourself?
There are two kinds of love. Ego-filled love and Universal love. Ego-filled love is based in perceptions, facades, ideas in our heads. The more beautiful, handsome, talented, wealthy, exciting, sexy or special our ego perceives ourselves to be, the more we seem to fill a hole inside of us.
Universal love is the result of a different functioning of the mind. Our body, our mind, our thoughts are filled with pure warmth, oneness, and non-judgmental acceptance. Universal love will feel safe because it is not dependent on anything that can change.
Children are born with a deep sense of their own OK-ness. They know at birth that they are loved. Most of us lose this wonderful sense of peace and self-acceptance somewhere along the line.
Self-love doesn't happen by luck or the grace of God. You have to create it:
• Honor yourself and who you really are. Love is your birthright. We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience
• Tell the highest truth: which is that we are powerful beings capable of creating joy and success or pain and suffering in our lives. We are not destined to be victims. We have the power to choose, and this power is both the greatest responsibility we have and the greatest opportunity
• Honor who you are becoming. Self-love involves recognizing that you are constantly evolving and growing to become a more powerful and more loving being
• Honor your feelings and responding to those feelings. Remember, feelings are important signals, and even the so-called negative feelings of anger and fear serve the important purpose of alerting us to the obstacles in our life
Imagine a large group of content, happy people surrounding you. They don’t need to have faces or names, just imagine your fellow humans from all walks of life, all ages, focusing on you in a circle of love. They say to you: “Let us love you until you love yourself”
Now sit with that feeling and let it wash over you knowing what it feels like to loved completely just as you are.
“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” – Buddha
