Self Love

Hi!

This is my first official blog post since I have been up and running a little over two weeks ago…

It has taken me awhile to get into the swing of things! I am loving this new online world of mine. Although scary and daunting, I am feeling super creative and so fulfilled to finally be doing what I love. Writing. and hopefully inspiring people along the way!

That being said, it has been a lot of work - more work than I ever anticipated. Many, many hours behind a computer screen as well as connecting, listening and learning from others. Overall, growing as a person.

So, speaking of growing, I wanted to talk about self love.

What could be better than talking about self love during the month of February?

Now that my blog is up, which I now realize has been a lifelong dream by the way, it took a lot of self love to get to where I am today. It has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get this to come to fruition as well as a path of self discovery which has led me to this life of blogging and being on Instagram, a lot.

As a blogger, you really have to put yourself out there. It is difficult and you have to learn to be more open and vulnerable than most of us would ever feel comfortable with. However; that is Ok because I think people are more alike than they realize.

Today is National Self Love Day! ♥️ What is self love? What does self love mean to you?

When I think of self love, I think of Lucille Ball’s famous quote, “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”

Lucille Ball was glamorous, inspiring, a red head turned blonde that continued to shatter glass ceilings her whole entire life by being the woman that she was.

When I think about self love, I think about cultivating greatness. In order to cultivate greatness we must be growing. In order to grow, this must come from within. Therefore; we must get introspective with ourselves and listen to our inner voice, trusting ourselves.

Essentially, rising above the pressure of the world around us and having less need for explanations.

We must forgive ourselves for not being a perfect person yet retain our boundaries that help us implement, everyday, the things and beliefs that we stand for.

When listening to our inner voice, I have found that it may not be the immediate gratification that we were hoping for. Our inner voice speaking to us may not be the popular choice.

These fears have a tendency to set in and feel almost paralyzing. Forging ahead with our inner voice takes courage and conviction.

For me, self love has been about going ‘long’ on this journey in life. Choosing the things that are right for me and my family and focusing on the best interest of doing what is right at the time.

We must be willing to sacrifice and with sacrifice, comes hard work. This is necessary in order to get where we are going. The reward is well worth the work! Again, all of this takes time before we see the fruits of our labor.

I once had an old boss that said to me… See her? Do you see how “lucky” she is? I said, “yes! She is sooo lucky!” He said to me, “Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness.” I believe luck is a perception. It is usually someone else’s perception, of us. But, if we dig deep, usually we find that individual’s luck is indeed hard work. It is usually behind the scenes preparation as well as sacrifice for something they really believed in and had conviction that these were the right things for them in their life. So, my take? When I observe people who I think are lucky - I ask them to tell me their story. Tell me more! When I talk with them, I find they are a really hard worker. They work on themselves. They work on self love. They practice being kind, religiously. All of these things are self love, to me.

Once we are practicing self love regularly, I think we naturally experience self actualization.

Essentially, when we greet the world with a grateful heart and are open to loving ourselves enough we put forth the effort and the hard work in order to get where we are going.

All of that in mind, this life of ours is really a journey not a destination. Sometimes the path may seem lonely but just then, you will have a turning point, the sun comes out and new friends arrive to bless your life and to reassure you that you are continually learning, growing, cultivating, rising to the very best version of yourself and that is truly SELF LOVE!

P.S. My friend, Bre, from the Handmade Nest Co. is offering all of you a 25% discount on her Self Love Collection of handmade signs. Use Code: LOVEU2

I love everything on her site. It is all so high quality and handmade by her with the finest materials.

Until next time, my sweet friends, keep loving yourself.

XOXO,

Lora

Check out Handmade Nest Co, below:

https://handmadenestco.com/collections/the-self-love-collection/products/i-found-me