Learning to Love Yourself

Can you remember the last time you treated yourself and actually felt like you deserved it? Or - no matter how silly it sounds - when the last time said, "I love you" to yourself? You might think it sounds a little silly, but according a website called Happify, we can make ourselves happier. And we would be a lot better off if we started treating ourselves with the same amount of love and respect that we give our friends and family. Happify is dedicated to helping people create their own happiness and say that the best first step you can take is by learning to love yourself and building on your self-worth. The website cites previous studies that have shown that people, who have taught themselves the art of self-compassion, are actually more capable of feeling joy. Not only that, but these people have also been shown to be more optimistic and grateful, too. The website recommends activities for the user to participate in every day, but these are tailored to the user. This means that the activities will yield the best results suited for the user's goals. And the user will also be able to learn valuable skills to feel more peace of mind, as well as more engaged, motivated and excited about the future. Self-compassion, as defined by the website, involves being gentle and supportive of oneself, remembering that everyone makes mistakes (it's what makes them human) and being aware of your own suffering. But why do the people at Happify think we need to work on our self-compassion? Firstly, there is the matter that a lot of people out there feel that their life would be better if only they could just be better themselves. We tend to confuse self-compassion with narcissism, self-pity, self-indulgence and making excuses for bad behaviour. But, in fact, self-compassion involves us taking responsibility for our behaviour, even when that behaviour is bad, and accepting ourselves as a person. If we are able to take responsibility for ourselves, it gives us the chance to change our behaviour, so we can progress forward towards achieving our goals. Happify explains that being able to love oneself also allows us to be more compassionate to other people - if you can forgive yourself, you are better able to forgive other people. Embracing who you are without being self-critical about it lowers the risk of you suffering from stress, depression or other mental illnesses. It also enables people to implement better coping strategies, should we find ourselves taking a self backwards. If you want to find out more about the benefits of self-compassion, or ways to boost it, check out Happify's infographic here !