Finding Self Love
Finding self love is a difficult journey, it took me most of my life to learn to love myself and even now it’s still a struggle sometimes. For me, the most important part about learning self love was acceptance, you need to accept your “flaws” and realise that NO ONE is perfect.
Accepting that my depression and anxiety is a part of me was the first step, mental illness does not define you, it sculpts you into the beautiful and unique person you are. We all have our struggles, and you are not alone in suffering. It’s important to acknowledge that you’re allowed days of sadness, self love does not mean you have to be 100% all day every day. You can spend a day in bed with a film and a cuppa’ and still have self love.
In order to find out why you don’t already have self love you need to figure out what it is that makes you NOT love yourself. Is it something you’re doing or not doing? For me, I experienced the most self hate when my diet was dismal, I used food as an excuse to hate myself and my body but I also used it as a coping mechanism and it just became a spiral of self hate.
I found the pattern between the type of foods I was eating and how I felt (sometimes a journal is a good way of finding what causes your self hate) and it came to a point where I just had enough. Going vegan was my saving grace. Going vegan means I now easily consume my 5 a day, my meals are packed of vital minerals and vitamins and it’s all guilt free. I don’t have to feel guilty or upset when eating any of it, I can truly enjoy what I’m eating now. I am proud of the food I eat and I am proud of my body.
Don’t get me wrong, I still eat junk, but not half as much as I used to and like I said before, I can now eat naughty treats without feeling guilty and therefore not hating myself for eating it. I can now wholeheartedly say that I treat my body well, I fuel it with the right food and I take it out for long walks in the sunshine! Treat your body like you’d treat your pet dog (or something) and you’ll be on the path to self love.
They key is really finding a link between doing something (or wishing you would do something) and when you experience self hate, when you find a trigger you can fight it and work towards extinguishing those negative feelings and building the positive ones.
Never forget to appreciate and be grateful and go find your self love! xx
33 Comments
velvetspring
Ah I love this post so much, after recently becoming vegetarian I’m gradually on the path to becoming vegan and it’s blogs like this that really spur me on!
Jen, Velvet Spring. xo
The Ethical Evolution
Aw, I wish you the best of luck!x
ThinkFeelStrong
Great insightful post. I totally agree, it is so crucial to remember that “sad days” are OK. Don’t bash and beat yourself up for being human. I do think it’s also important to analyze what is bothering you and find a link. For me, I’ve found when I skip the gym and eat bad foods, I end up feeling miserable about myself. Therefore, i try my best to be active and eat foods that are GOOD for me.
The Ethical Evolution
Thats amazing, yeah I feel horrible when I don’t get up and move!
Terri
I’ve recently been keeping a record of food and water intake and I agree, you do start to notice patterns etc. Loved this post.
Terri x
http://www.territalks.co.uk
The Ethical Evolution
Wonderful, glad it’s becoming obvious!x
Velvetblogs
Self live is soo important! Ive been drinking a lot of water lately and eating healthy and it’s really making me feel better 🙂
The Ethical Evolution
Thats good! Drinking water is something I need to work one myself x
Single Vegas Girl
Figuring out how to love yourself is always great because you get to be more introspective. Finding things you don’t like/enjoy and changing them can be a great thing as well. I’m glad you’ve targeted your eating and then realize what can be done. Junk food is always good in moderation. (:
Single Vegas Girl
http://singlevegasgirl.blogspot.com
The Ethical Evolution
Yes, plus my junk food is now all guilt free! x
abbeylouisarose
This post is so important! I couldn’t agree with you more, mental illness does not define you, it is one aspect of you and something that you can work on, but it doesn’t consume you! Self acceptance and self love is so vital, and it’s wonderful to read a post embracing all these things!
Abbey 🌸 http://www.abbeylouisarose.co.uk
The Ethical Evolution
Thank you! Yes, in order to achieve self love you have to love every part x
Rosiemau
This is brilliant. There needs to be more self love in the world. Its great when someone is aware of this type of thing and takes action. Good on you girl! 🙂
https://creatinghappyminds.wordpress.com/2017/03/12/embrace-your-face/
The Ethical Evolution
Thank you, I had to take action, the other option wasn’t an option at all x
jennyinneverland
This is a wonderful post. I’m not vegetarian or vegan for that matter but self love is such a broad concept with so many different elements which will be different for everyone and I’m glad to hear you’ve found something that makes you feel good. I’ve definitely been keeping an eye on what I eat more regularly. I also try to have odd days without meat every couple of days and drink SO much water 💚
The Ethical Evolution
I’ve always been an incredibly compassionate person so for me it was the biggest thing triggering my self hatred, but it will of course be different for everyone but it’s important to identify the cause regardless! x
Lizzie Bee
I feel like I should take a leaf out of your book and eat better, because I’ve been eating nothing but junk these past couple of weeks and I have been feeling awful. I’ve also been overworking which is definitely not helping how I feel about myself, so I need to fix that!
The Ethical Evolution
Food has a much bigger impact on our mental health than we tend to think! Treat yourself to a healthy home cooked meal x
sysy
I loved reading your post and I’m so glad you’re finding your way.
by the way, i love your hair colour
xx
The Ethical Evolution
Thank you!x
samslifeadventures
Great post!
I’ve found removing negative things and people from my life has made mine a much happier place to be!
Sam xox
samslifeadventures.wordpress.com
The Ethical Evolution
Yes! Removing negative vibes is so important x
chelsiechelsiex
LOVE this ❤ self love is such a difficult thing to learn and even to express. So glad you’re on a good path now x
http://Www.atartanrose.com
The Ethical Evolution
Thank you so much x
Corinne & Kirsty ⛄️ (@corinnekirsty)
Great post. Great read. I am struggling with self love just now but your post made my day! So thank you! xx Corinne
The Ethical Evolution
Aw thank you! Keep your head up, I believe in you x
Yossy Akinsanya
Love this post, planning on doing a self love post for my next post! This post was lovely to read because I can relate so much especially about depression.
Wish you all the best of the journey as it’s a continous one and sometimes a hard one!
With Love Yossy x
The Ethical Evolution
Thank you, I hope your post goes well, I’ll certainly check it out when you’ve done it x
Paige Louise
Wow such a beautiful post! Had great pleasure reading this ❤️✨
The Ethical Evolution
Thank you so much!X
RealNess
Ive been through this and I 100% agree with all of this! Self love is so important! xxx
anasdomain
This resonates with me so much! I quit fizzy drinks and just the fact that it’s been two years since I had my last zip of Coca-Cola makes me so proud of myself!
The Ethical Evolution
Amazing! Congratulations 🤗 x