The Greatest Love of All

Whitney Houston sang this beautiful song where she reveals that the greatest love of all is learning to love yourself, something which she once shared in an interview, was a struggle for her.

It is a struggle for many of us.

On Valentine’s Day, I thought it was apropos to focus on loving ourselves.

When we hear about a famous person dying young, especially one with as much talent as Whitney, it hurts us. It’s never easy to deal with death; but it’s more unsettling when it happens prematurely and especially unnaturally, as in the case of Michael Jackson. We get angry when this happens and wish they had taken better care of themselves so we could continue to enjoy their gifts.

But you have gifts too. You matter just as much as these famous people. You have family and friends and coworkers and others to whom you mean so much.

Have you ever stopped to consider what you and your actions – your presence – means in the life of those around you?

You are special. You have many unique qualities. It’s your job to respect and honor yourself, to identify and develop your special talents and to share them with the rest of us; to accept yourself with all of your idiosyncrasies, brilliance and beauty; and to enjoy yourself – to enjoy being you.

We all have the same life lessons to learn – to love, to grow, to take care of our body and health, figure out our finances, create relationships that work, turn our skills into a career so we can earn a living, forgive…It all comes back to how we feel about ourselves and how we treat ourselves.

There are different kinds of love – romantic, maternal/paternal, brotherly – but the definition that fits everywhere is that of acceptance.

Where there is acceptance, there is love.

Isn’t that what we each want – to be accepted for who we are without having to hide, wear a mask or shrink to fit some idea or mold? We want to fully express who we are without holding back, without reservations and without ties or rules imposed by others. That’s freedom–

The freedom to be YOU.

You give yourself that freedom by learning to love and honor yourself. You just have to decide that you are important enough to give yourself the attention and care YOU need.

Imagine that – putting yourself first in order of importance in your life.

But you ARE the most important person in your life; without you, what do you have? No one will love and care for you better than YOU.

This Valentine’s Day, as you celebrate ‘love’, take a moment to consider the love you have for yourself:

• Identify a couple of ways in which you want to improve how you care for yourself;
• Identify a couple of things perhaps you need to accept in your life – about you, your present circumstances, or your past;
• and start today doing little things that make you feel loved – by YOU.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

To your health and happiness,

Julie Donley, RN ~ Nurturing Your Success and inspiring you to be your best!

Author of The Journey Called YOU and Does Change have to be so H.A.R.D.?