In February of 2017, I published podcast episodes on The Month of Love. In these episodes, I talked about how to love yourself, how to love others, and practical tips on how to get more love in your life. As we are now 6 days into February and what some call the month of Love, I wanted to remind us that love is something that we should have in our lives every day, every month, and every year; not just in February.
I choose to focus on love because there is already so much hate and division in the world that I believe that if we focus on love, then much of the problems we experience could be solved. The first place we have to start with love is loving ourselves. We love ourselves by being mindful of the words that we speak to and about ourselves, and speak more kind, loving, uplifting words to ourselves. We love ourselves by how we communicate to others how to treat us. This means that we don’t demean ourselves and we don’t let others to demean or abuse us. We set healthy boundaries and expectations for how we want others to treat us. We love ourselves by how we take care of our bodies. This means that we get adequate sleep, eat healthy and nourishing foods, and move our body (exercise). Meditation is also another great way to show love to yourself. 10 minutes of this quiet time in meditation is a great way to engage in self-love.
The reality is that if we don’t love ourselves it will be difficult to love someone else.
I included this picture of myself because it demonstrates self-love for me. I remember feeling happy and good about myself. I remember that each day I was engaging in small activities to love myself and I felt happy and truly loving towards myself.
As we approach Valentine’s Day, I suggest focusing less on what someone else will do to show they love you and focus more on how you can show love to yourself so that you are better able to love others and share more love with your family, community, and the world. To listen to those episodes on The Month of Love from February 2017, subscribe to and download the WednesdaysWithTheDoc Podcast Show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify, and any other podcast services. If you like what you have read here, subscribe to the blog.
If you want to talk to a mental health professional about challenges you are facing, schedule a consultation or appointment with me today at 703-539-2266 or email me at drdaphneking@drdaphneking.com.
Sharing Love,
Dr. Daphne
Dr. Daphne King 