Be yourself, the rest will follow

“Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease, 
And builds a heaven in hell’s despair.” – William Blake

Love, the topic on everyone’s mind this week with Valentines Day fast approaching. No matter if you are single or in a relationship love is on everyone’s mind. We may be actively seeking it from another person or trying to find it within ourselves. Love can be complicated as there are many types: friendly, familial, lust, romantic, etc. As humans we are all (or at least most of us are) capable of all types of love and can experience them all at once.

It is the one emotion that can bring us the greatest joys, but also the greatest pain. Love can blind us to flaws in other people, which can lead us to trust them even if it isn’t in our best interest. Love can fill us with joy and hope for a brighter future. It can brighten our day, be there to celebrate our achievements, or comfort us when we are at our lowest. Love can also go unrequited, leaving one of us all alone with our heart on our sleeve. Vulnerable. This can make it hard for people who have been hurt before or don’t like to be in a vulnerable position to open themselves up to receive love from others and give ours in return.

It can be a struggle to let others close enough to our hearts, to be open and vulnerable because once we let them in we are trusting them not to hurt us, verbally or otherwise. That is why we must have a firm foundation in our self love so that we can recognize people worthy of our love. We must know that we deserve to be surrounded by people that love us for who we are, not who we used to be or what we used to look like, but for who we are as a person. For what we are in the present and what we are pushing ourselves to be. We are all fighting battles daily, some we lose and some we win, but that doesn’t give any of us the right to lash out at other people because we don’t know what they are going through.

“Love thy neighbor as thyself” – Matthew 22:39

No matter what religion you are or what you believe, I think we can all agree that this sentiment is universal. So whether you have another love in your life or if its just you make sure this Valentines Day you let them know how much they mean to you and remind yourself that you are worth everything and deserve to be loved for just being you.