Love Renegade
Professional life coach, Andrea Owen, talks about "loving yourself first" and why it's so important!
I thought if many things to write about for this post. There are easily 100 things I could say to a teenage girl; 100 pieces of advice. Oodles of “words of wisdom”. But, I decided not to. Not because I didn’t want to, but I really thought about who might be reading this. I put myself back some 20 years, when I was a teenage girl and what I needed to hear the most. And it was only one thing:
Love yourself first.
As teenage girls, we hear a million things from people that love us. Wear sunscreen, study, go to college, be polite, be on time, use birth control, don’t have sex!, be nice, etc.
And then there’s the media. Be sexy, be thin, be perfect, buy this, buy that, get a boyfriend, exercise, do everything, etc.
It’s enough to make your head spin. But, trust me when I tell you the most important thing you can do for yourself and your future is to
Love yourself first.
I didn’t really do that when I was a teenager. Don’t get me wrong; I actually grew up loved by my parents and that part was great, I just never knew how important loving myself was. And that it takes practice. And forgiveness. And letting go of doing everything “right”. It might seem as if you’re some kind of renegade to love yourself, I mean the media you see everyday wants you to do the opposite so you’ll buy everything they throw at you so that you’ll be lovable. But, again, all that “stuff” will never love you back, nor will it make you more lovable that you already are. So, again
Love yourself first.
Will your life be perfect with rainbows and unicorns if you love yourself first? No. It won’t. But, I guarantee it will set a path for you that is ahead of the rest. Love is what we’re all here for. And by loving yourself your heart will open up and your life has the potential for greatness. When you love yourself first people are genuinely attracted to you. You’ll have that certain something that makes you special.
By loving yourself first I ask you not to place your worth in someone else’s hands. You are the most precious thing to yourself. You’ve got a long road ahead of you filled with struggles, happiness, pain, celebrations, heartbreak and so much more. Great stuff and not-so-great stuff. Throughout all of this, loving yourself will make it all that much better. More colorful, honoring you the whole way. And if it makes you uncomfortable, here’s a secret: You don’t have to tell anyone. It can be your own little secret gift.
You, my dear, we’re born on this earth perfect the way you are at just the perfect time and place. There is a reason you are here, and at your age, it’s not your job to find out what that reason is just yet. But, I promise you, by loving yourself first, you will find it. And life will make a little more sense.
So, if you ignore all advice from everyone else, try on this one. It may not make too much sense right now, but it will later. Pinky swear.
Andrea Owen is a professional life coach and speaker. She is passionate about empowering women and girls to value their character and feel beautiful by manifesting respect and love for themselves first and foremost. She has helped hundreds of people manage their inner-critic to break through and live their most kick-ass life. You can read more at www.yourkickasslife.com and contact her at andrea@yourkickasslife.com