Unconditional Love

What is loving unconditionally? Is it loving someone so much that you would do anything for them? Is it putting aside your own needs so that theirs are met? Neither one is healthy in a realistic sense, but if you have a relationship with someone where you care for them more than you do for yourself, you may have to reexamine the nature of it. Loving unconditionally starts with yourself. You must love yourself in order to love others. How do you love yourself? You start by taking a mental inventory of things you definitely like about yourself, and then you divide that list into like, and love. You might like that you can get up without pushing the snooze button more than once, or you might LOVE that you can get up and be in a terrific mood every day. You might like that you can say no to sweets after a meal, or you might LOVE that you can say no to things you know you shouldn't eat even when you are hungry. Loving yourself means being ok with your flaws. Loving yourself means you can move on when you do something silly that embarasses you in front of others. Loving yourself means even when you cause yourself pain by choosing to act in a way that you know is going to bite you in the butt later, you know that it will be for the common good in the end. When you start to love yourself, you can start to love others, because you will know that they have flaws, because you do, and that it is normal. You will also know that they are human like you, and you don't need to have super high expectations of them. This will help you begin your journey.