Some people think it’s a sin to love yourself. They consider those who love them-
selves to be selfish, conceited and rather unpleasant. But they’re mistaken. They
confuse self-love with false pride and narcissism (being in love withyourself )
which is quite a different matter. Vanity and arrogance are usually a form of
bravado engaged in by people who love themselves too little and are trying to
cover it up.
If you don’t love yourself you’ll have no sense of self-worth, and no feeling of
acceptance or belonging.
Furthermore, your capacity for loving others is directly related to how much love
you have for yourself. You can’t share anything you don’t have. How can you truly
love another if you don’t feel worthy of giving and receiving love? Impossible.
The belief that you need to be different from how you are in order to be loved
causes a great deal of misery. Unless you are happy within, you’ll never be truly
satisfied with what you do. Loving yourself unconditionallyis the key to happi-
ness. But you don’t have to be perfect: the most loved person in the world makes
mistakes! You don’t even have to do your best. You don’t have to prove anything.
You’re all right because you’re all right, and lovable exactly as you are.
(^34) Self-love