Peace of Mind

Love starts with yourself

By Anna Marie Frank

LOVE IS IN THE AIR, PLASTERED ALL OVER THE STORES, BUT

LOVE TRULY LIVES IN OUR HEARTS. There are different kinds of love but all true love is rooted in you — it begins with you. Love may look like respect, acceptance, honoring one’s self and all things, curiosity and faith. What words come to mind when you think of where love’s roots come from?

Self-love is allowing yourself to be your true authentic self, and I am here to help you make this a core belief in what true self-love is. Let’s recognize loving one’s self goes beyond the bubble bath mentality of self-care. True love starts with honoring one’s self. True self-love is allowing yourself to be you without judgment or holding back.

Sometimes when seeking our true selves, we may find ourselves borrowing from others. And though it is great to be inspired by others’ achievements, borrowing goals and expectations from them can pull us out of alignment with our inner being, or soul — whatever you want to call it. This then leaves us feeling like we are missing something because we are.

True self-love is staying in alignment with goals born from your soul and honoring your purpose!

With the new year, many of us can be tempted to take on resolutions, and more times than not those resolutions are not born out of alignment with our soul’s purpose. We end up borrowing our goals when we see this celebrity or that self-help guru having a certain goal or them telling us what we should strive for. We even borrow the idea of what love is or how we should act based on others’ expectations. Be inspired by others but stay on YOUR path.

So, what happens when we borrow goals from others? Yikes! It takes us out of alignment with our true authentic self and when we do this we are not able to fully love ourselves. Borrowing another’s goal that does not resonate with our whole-being will leave us feeling like something is missing… because it is. YOU are missing.. As if not losing the weight (a goal that may have never stemmed from your higher self) means something is wrong with you or you failed — once again! You beat yourself up over an idea that you truly never wanted anyway. Let it go!

Anytime we set a goal that is genuinely aligned with our soul’s purpose, and not someone else’s, it is easier to stay on our true path, feel amazing, feel successful all while being our true authentic self.

During the month of February, I encourage you to look at your goals. Look at expectations you have for yourself. Are they truly your goals and expectations? Are these rooted in and sprouting from your soul? Are they yours? Are they serving your purpose? Do they allow you to be your true authentic self? Take this opportunity to reset your heart for true self-love of your authentic self.

Opinions expressed in this column are those of Anna Marie Frank.