February is known as the month of love and romance, so why not use that to your advantage to love yourself and make sure you realize how important you are? You may think of February as just the month that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in, but you don’t need Valentine’s Day to celebrate a little bit of self love. I think Erica Layne, a mother and author of the blog The Life on Purpose Movement, said it best; “Only YOU can take care of yourself in the ways that you need the most, because you GET yourself! You know yourself better than anyone else can.” That statement just rings true from start to finish.
When you think about it and break it down, you are singularly the most important person in your life. Kind of scary right? But also kind of empowering and liberating, at least in my mind. I am ME and you are YOU.
Loving oneself doesn’t come easy to everyone I know. Maybe you don’t like your body, maybe you are always tired from working, maybe you wish you had better hair or skin. There is always something that we don’t like about ourselves, but starting small with tiny changes can make the biggest difference in making yourself feel loved and happy. **Also makes the world around you more manageable.
For me my tiny step led me to the nail salon, yes I know a weird place to start, but hey you have to start somewhere. If there is one thing that you should know about me, it is that I am an avid nail biter, and always have been. I don’t know why and I have never been able to stop, there is just something in my brain that tells me to keep biting, keep biting, so I do. My hands are already on the larger end and my fingers are definitely not considered dainty. There are times when I look down at my half eaten nails with my long fingers, and I just feel so dejected. It ruins my day, just seeing my hands and my nails like that. Isn’t it amazing how a tiny thing like my nails can ruin a whole day, my self esteem, and my hand modeling career?
You may ask why I never painted them or tried to take care of them. The answer is simple - I have never had the patience for nail art, or nail care. I would start out really strong on my left hand, but by the time I reached my pinky finger on that hand, my attention would start to wane, the polish wouldn’t dry in time, and I knew there would be no way that I was going to complete my other hand.
Solution: head straight to the nail salon and treat myself to a manicure, my first act of self love. The hot towel massage, the quick drying nail polish, and most importantly the way I felt after sitting in my chair, with my nails living their best life. Nothing boosts the mood quite like a good manicure. One of my friends once said to me; “Life is not perfect, but your nails can be.”
I take that statement to heart everyday.
Now a few questions for you dear readers. If you had to sit yourself down, and focus on one place to start to love yourself, where would that be? Where would you start? How would it benefit you? How would it benefit the world and the community around you?
You can’t love someone, or your community, until you start to love yourself. Continue to spread the love to yourself and to others around you.
“One Love, One Heart, Let’s get together and feel alright.” -Bob Marley
*As a side note, we are not medical professionals, this is not an advice column, and if you do seek mental or medical help, please refer to your doctor.