Love Yourself or
The Art of Self-Acceptance
To love yourself means to accept yourself as you are and to come to terms with those aspects of yourself that you cannot change. It means to have self-respect, a positive self-image, and unconditional self-acceptance.
Needless to say, it does not mean being arrogant, conceited or thinking that you are better than anyone else. It means having a healthy regard for yourself knowing that you are a worthy human being.
It is important to remind ourselves that no one is perfect. We all have strengths and weaknesses and we certainly possess the resources to work on improving ourselves.
Each of us is unique and has specific talents and abilities to offer. We are all here, in the words of Walt Whitman, “to contribute a verse”.
In order to appreciate yourself it is up to you to discover what makes you unique and to further develop those talents. We have a responsibility to ourselves to do so.
You cannot sit around and wait for approval from others. Work on accepting yourself. You are the only “you” that you have. It is in your best interests to be the best you can be.
Until you love yourself, you will not be able to love anyone else. You can only love another to the degree that you do yourself. By Z. Hereford ( Continue reading)
Ηere’s a self-love poem written by some wonderful unknown person, clearly inspired by Kim McMillen’s poem When I Learned to Love Myself, and often attributed to the great Charlie Chaplin. SOURCE
Video on Vimeo with no subtitles
As I Began to Love Myself – A Self Love Poem
As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering
are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth.
Today, I know, this is “AUTHENTICITY.”
As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody
As I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time
was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this
person was me.
Today I call it “RESPECT.”
As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life,
and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow.
Today I call it “MATURITY.”
As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance,
I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens
at the exactly right moment. So I could be calm.
Today I call it “SELF-CONFIDENCE.”
As I began to love myself I quit steeling my own time, and I stopped designing huge projects for the future. Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in my own rhythm.
Today I call it “SIMPLICITY.”
As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism.
Today I know it is “LOVE OF ONESELF.”
As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since
I was wrong less of the time.
Today I discovered that is “MODESTY.”
As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worrying
about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where EVERYTHING
is happening.
Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it “FULFILLMENT.”
As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me
and it can make me sick. But As I connected it to my heart, my
mind became a valuable ally.
Today I call this connection “WISDOM OF THE HEART.”
We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems
with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing
new worlds are born.
Today I know THAT IS “LIFE!”
CHESTNUT ESL/EFL 
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