FINDING SELF-LOVE. (BY NILE FROM UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND)
These past few months have been incredibly eye-opening for me.
I've figured out what I want to do with my life, I've cultivated amazing friendships, I've spent quality time with family and I've learned how to love myself.
This is not to say that I didn't love myself before, but I don't think that I loved myself completely. (If I'm being honest.) I constantly compared myself, questioned my value and I was a people-pleaser. I found myself spreading myself too thin for others and forgetting about myself and what I needed.
During the summer I had the first really bad anxiety attack I've had in a long time, and it made me realize that I was carrying entirely too much on my plate and I had to let some things go, take a break and dedicate time to myself.
Spending time with myself taught me a lot of things:
-It taught me how to live in the moment and stop worrying about the future; if I'm so busy worried about the future, how can I enjoy the now?
-It allowed me time to take myself out on dates. I would take the metro to D.C., and take myself to lunch, and for a walk in the park.
-It allowed me to do things that made me feel good whether it be wearing a nice outfit to class every day, putting on a full face of makeup on a random Saturday afternoon to go absolutely nowhere, or even putting my headphones on and dancing around in my room to the music that I love.
-It taught me to spend less time on social media and to stop comparing my life to the lives of others. Everyone is on a different path.
-It taught me that in order to have good relationships with other people, I had to have a good relationship with myself.
-It helped to me find the things that make me happy.
Now, I embrace the every day to the fullest (even the bad days). I still deal with anxiety, but I try my best to combat it by doing things that bring me happiness and comfort.
There is no guide to self-love, and it doesn't happen overnight. Everyone is on a different journey, and we're all constantly growing and changing.
You have to do what's best for you, and your happiness shouldn't rely on anyone else.
How is your journey to self-love? Let me know by tweeting me @NaturallyNi or @NerdyNaturals01!
Nile is the creator of Nerdy Naturals. She is a junior Communication major with minors in Chinese and entrepreneurship. In her free time she enjoys dancing, drinking coffee, jogging and reading. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and email nerdynaturals@gmail.com if you're interested in contributing.
I've figured out what I want to do with my life, I've cultivated amazing friendships, I've spent quality time with family and I've learned how to love myself.
This is not to say that I didn't love myself before, but I don't think that I loved myself completely. (If I'm being honest.) I constantly compared myself, questioned my value and I was a people-pleaser. I found myself spreading myself too thin for others and forgetting about myself and what I needed.
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A few months ago, I wrote about a piece about being selfish. While I did learn how to be selfish, I forgot to work on the self-love aspect. There was a lot of inner-work that I still needed to do.
On the exterior, I appear happy and bubbly, yet calm and peaceful, so the thought of me ever feeling sad or insecure didn't make sense to some of the people who are very close to me, but sometimes the happiest and strongest people are fighting battles you don't even know about.
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| Source: @poemsporn_ |
Spending time with myself taught me a lot of things:
-It taught me how to live in the moment and stop worrying about the future; if I'm so busy worried about the future, how can I enjoy the now?
-It allowed me time to take myself out on dates. I would take the metro to D.C., and take myself to lunch, and for a walk in the park.
-It allowed me to do things that made me feel good whether it be wearing a nice outfit to class every day, putting on a full face of makeup on a random Saturday afternoon to go absolutely nowhere, or even putting my headphones on and dancing around in my room to the music that I love.
-It taught me to spend less time on social media and to stop comparing my life to the lives of others. Everyone is on a different path.
-It taught me that in order to have good relationships with other people, I had to have a good relationship with myself.
-It helped to me find the things that make me happy.
Now, I embrace the every day to the fullest (even the bad days). I still deal with anxiety, but I try my best to combat it by doing things that bring me happiness and comfort.
There is no guide to self-love, and it doesn't happen overnight. Everyone is on a different journey, and we're all constantly growing and changing.
You have to do what's best for you, and your happiness shouldn't rely on anyone else.
How is your journey to self-love? Let me know by tweeting me @NaturallyNi or @NerdyNaturals01!
Nile is the creator of Nerdy Naturals. She is a junior Communication major with minors in Chinese and entrepreneurship. In her free time she enjoys dancing, drinking coffee, jogging and reading. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and email nerdynaturals@gmail.com if you're interested in contributing.
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