So how do we develop Self-Love
Firstly, not being honest about your imperfections doesn’t change them it just prevents you from healing those parts of yourself. These are the parts within that are reacting to fear and emotional pain. That’s okay. That’s being human.
Secondly, we have to define what self-love is.
Love cannot exist without understanding.
Love is Understanding.
If you cannot understand, you cannot love.
Love based on compassion can provide the energy needed to respond to self-suffering.
Pain that results from looking within and seeing the full truth of your nature can be a helpful pain when done with self-compassion.
To heal we need to develop a relationship with these imperfect parts of ourselves. To not fear, shame, disguise, deny, project or deflect them.
Allow them (shadow self) to come to the surface; and like a child that has been wounded it needs a nurturing empathetic self-response so that it can learn to feel safe, learn to trust, learn to be confidently vulnerable and imperfect. Doing this relinquishes it’s need to develop defense mechanism to protect itself from itself..
The path to self-love is….
Self Understanding —-> Self-Empathy —–> Self forgiveness —–> Self-acceptance —-_> Self Trust —-> Ultimately self confidence —-> Self-love.
