9/24/2020 The importance of self-love | The Daily Star

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12:00 AM, January 08, 2019 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:00 AM, January 08, 2019

The importance of self-love

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Zubayer Zakir Khan

For many people, the concept of self-love is an overblown theory and they often ignore its
importance. People aspire to be perfect and perfectionism is considered a greater asset or 
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attribute than self-love. When we talk about self-love, it is easy to picture someone

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9/24/2020 The importance of self-love | The Daily Star

reading self-help books or hugging a tree; but self-love is much more than that. A lot of
studies have shown that self-love is the key to mental wellbeing and it keeps depression
and anxiety at bay.

Modern society is shaped in such a way that we are sort of bound to constantly compete
against each other, or even ourselves. We are always trying to reach our short-term goals
and trying to better ourselves to match the expectations set upon us by the society. Many
of us are guilty of working long hours and getting less sleep each night; we travel the
extra mile and feel content that we have achieved perfectionism. We grind in and out
every week; even during the weekend 'relaxing' and 'having a good time' seems like a
chore.

As a consequence, we end up being too hard on ourselves all too often without even
realising. All of us are more or less stuck up and consumed by our work, social
interactions, life goals, weekend plans and so on.

Love is the only thing that keeps us going and makes us less robotic in a world which
requires us to work, think and act like we are programmed bots. Everyone needs love and
we spend most of our energy on loving others — be it friends, spouses, children or family.

We all like to spread the love, but the question is — do we produce enough for our own
selves?

We cannot always expect to rely only on external sources for love and that is where the
concept of self-love comes in. A person who practices self-love will never need to depend
on others to be happy and it is an empowering feeling to be happy on the inside.

Self-love is not being selfish; it is just putting yourself first and not being too tough on
yourself. So next time you hear that little voice in your head telling you that you are not
good enough or that you cannot afford to make mistakes; just ignore it.

When our loved ones make a mistake we often forgive them easily, but when we make a
mistake we are often too hard on ourselves.

The first step of self-love is realising that we are only human and it is okay to make
mistakes; it is okay to lose at times; it is okay to not have the best day…week…or month.

All we need to do is love ourselves and let the negative things pass through; eventually
things will change and bad times will pass.
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9/24/2020 The importance of self-love | The Daily Star

Self-love has many benefits; the first benefit is greater life satisfaction. When we love
ourselves more we instantly change our perspective of the world. Self-love can give us a
more positive attitude towards life.

The second benefit of self-love is that it can encourage us to pick up good habits. Self-love
means loving your body, soul, and mind. Therefore, people who love themselves often
refrain from doing things that will have an impact on their tranquility. Thus, it can help
us adapt healthy habits.

If you start loving your body and mind more than others, you will not work during
weekends; you will rather go on a drive or do some other activity that relaxes your mind.

Another important benefit of self-love is better mental health. People who love
themselves are less likely to suffer from anxiety or depression; self-love also paves the
way to a positive mindset which is an essential ingredient for success in life and for
mental wellbeing.

Learning to love yourself also reduces stress, lessens procrastination and makes you more
focused at work.

Put yourself a little higher on your priority list; think highly of yourself as the world takes
you at your own estimate. If you have had a long day at work, come home and take a long
break.

If you have had a tough week, take the weekend off and travel somewhere; get off your
phone and give yourself some 'me time.' Consider yourself important too; love yourself as
much as you love your friends and family. Happiness and self-love are interconnected;
and we all deserve to be happy. Even the United Nations has its resolution on happiness; it
recognises happiness and well-being to be universal goals. Therefore, we should not
strive to be perfect, rather we should strive to love ourselves and pass on the love to
others. Self-love is the key to happiness and a person who is happy is in a far better
position to achieve success in every aspect of life.

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