I know, I know, Valentine’s Day is all about showing that special someone in your life just how much you care about them by buying them the largest teddy bear you can find and fattening them up with chocolate. I get it. But I learned something a long time ago –

You can’t love someone else fully unless you love yourself first.

So with the thought of valuing/accepting yourself in mind, here’s a beginner’s guide to loving yourself. It’s one tip. That’s it. Just one. Sounds easy, right? Here’s the tip…

Give yourself some grace.

Yep. That’s it. It sounds simple. It’s just a 4 word sentence. Yet here we are – all of us – pushing ourselves to do more, be better, prettier, smarter, more courageous, stronger, etc. We are all trying so hard to be more (fill in the blank) and for what? Will we ever achieve that goal? Do we ever really attain that greatness we’re seeking and once we get there – then what?

Since most of us haven’t achieved the greatness we desire – whether it be personal, at home, or work, or all of the above, we’re all in a constant state of not feeling like we’re enough.

Maybe I’m projecting my own feelings onto you and it’s just me, but if it’s not, I want you to listen to this…

You are enough.

You are. You may not believe it yet, but you are. Don’t believe it yet? Write down all the things you like about yourself. Can’t come up with anything? Ask those who really know you what they like about you. Write those things on sticky notes and put them everywhere – your car’s steering wheel, your bathroom mirror, on a hanger in your closet – everywhere! Soon, you will be surrounded by positive messages and it’s funny but you’ll find yourself reading the perfect message on the days you need it most.

So hold your head high. Roll those shoulders back. Be confident in knowing that there is no one on earth that is just like you. You are perfectly unique and beautiful and worthy just the way you are.

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As you might have noticed, I’m one of Google’s paid early testers for their Thank with Google pilot program. (If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, check out that little “Thank the creator” button that’s floating at the bottom of the screen AND is on the right side on the desktop version of this blog). I love the mission of this experimental feature because it allows you, the viewer, to be able to respond to my blog posts in a more creative way. Sometimes, the content creation world can be lonely. After all, there’s a lot of behind the scenes work done and it’s usually a solo project. Because of this, I’d love it if you would use the “Thank the creator” button below to use this new feature to let me know what you think!