I Love Myself
Does this sound egotistical? Can you say this about yourself? Would you believe that saying this one phrase as a personal mantra can be life-altering in the most positive way?
It is true. Affirming our own self-love can have wonderful results. While most of us have no problem listing our shortcomings, focusing on what we love about ourselves, or that we simply love ourselves, makes us squirm. In fact, just repeating the phrase, “I love myself,” without even having to believe it or explain it or list the ways it is true, can change the way we view ourselves, and thus the way we behave.
Fortunately, we know a lot about how the mind works and how it affects the rest of us, especially our bodies, including that lump sitting above our shoulders. Right now a whopping 18% of Americans over the age of 18 are suffering from anxiety disorders and, get this, 322 million people worldwide suffer from depression! I put an exclamation mark because that is A LOT of people!
I have been one of them. Actually, I have suffered from depression and anxiety, and I sought help from therapists and the pharmaceutical industry, and after giving both a serious try, I kept looking for something that could really help. (Note: that is not to say I am telling anyone what to do here. Both therapy and medication have helped people.)
While I am no longer depressed, I have experienced some anxiety lately over my employment situation, though I am aware of it, so the occurrences aren’t as severe as before. One affirmation has been helping me. No, scratch that. This affirmation has been the most illuminating experience of my life!
“I love myself.”
I got an email a few weeks ago from James Altucher, and he mentioned someone who sounded familiar, Kamal Ravikant, and I realized that I had Kamal’s book on my Kindle, Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It. I read Kamal’s book last year, and I liked it, but I guess I was not fully ready for his message until last week.
Since reading the book, I have read extensively about the subconscious and how it directs our behavior, whether we are aware of it or not. Many people are on automatic pilot and don’t understand how the beliefs we formed as far back as early childhood drive our decisions in adulthood. I certainly fit that bill. I didn’t know. But I can say without a doubt that as I look back at my life, I can see how this has been true for me.
If I wanted to be really rich, I could write a book on how people can improve themselves because that is what people are addicted to, especially Americans, improving themselves. The problem with becoming a non-stop fixer-upper is that we adopt the belief that we are inherently flawed and need fixing.
This need to fix ourselves morphs into a pattern of never-being-happy-with-who-we-are. We are going to be happy when we change. It is a form of self-hate. Though that sounds like a rough term, it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
In Kamal’s book, he writes about how he was suffering physically and mentally because the world he had built, including a profitable company, was crashing down around him. He became debilitated and couldn’t leave his bed. He was dying.
Until he got an insight. He decided to repeat the affirmation, “I love myself,” over and over, non-stop, as a sort-of mantra. He did this for 30 days, and in 30 days his whole world changed. Read the book and see for yourself.
Knowing how powerful my subconscious has been in driving my life, I decided to give it a try. Inside my head, moving my lips (not in public places because people will think I am insane) whenever possible, I keep repeating, I love myself.
“I love myself. I love myself. I love myself.” Over and over and over.
This interrupts the rolling script that already exists in our minds, especially the one that tells us we are not enough, or that we need to change before we or anyone else can love us.
Plus….over time, mind you, it reprograms our subconscious to believe that we really do love ourselves. That is how affirmations work.
The thing is that we have been playing the old tapes for years, possibly decades, possibly a half-century (in my case), so even 30 days won’t be enough to erase the deep grooves left there by the cheap shots we’ve been giving ourselves for most of our lives.
However, with attention and repetition, we will rescript our lives. I started feeling better within a few hours.
I, also, noticed when I was berating myself because I substituted “I love myself” every time a thought came through that found fault with the way I was doing something. To be honest, I was shocked at how often this happened!
Another aspect to consider is that our thoughts are things. Don’t believe me? Have you ever seen someone you are attracted to and your heart began to race? Other things may have happened as well. 🙂 Well, our minds are intricately connected to our bodies, and what we think affects our health and well-being.
When we tell ourselves good things like, “I love myself,” our bodies respond. Maybe not right away, but in time. Without going into quantum physics, our thoughts are energy, and they really pack a punch when we think them over and over.
The key is to just repeat the mantra, “I love myself.” Don’t try to believe it. Don’t try anything. Just repeat it. Over and over and over.
And watch the magic begin.
If you are thinking this is too self-centered and ego-driven, even the Bible says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” How can you love someone if you don’t love yourself first?
I could go into the oneness of life here, but that is something for another day. The bottom line is that when you begin really loving yourself, no exceptions or provisions, unconditionally, then you will start loving life and everyone in it as well.
Don’t believe me? Good. Try it and prove me wrong. I dare you!
The catch is that you have to do it consistently for 30 days.
This is one affirmation that will change everything for you, and I want to say how happy I am that you have chosen to embrace it.
Let me know how it goes!
Photo by Bart LaRue on Unsplash