As a culture, we work hard to emphasize the urgency surrounding self-care and self-love. These things look different for everyone; some may sleep in a little longer and have a lazy face-mask type of morning, while others wake up early and eat a healthy breakfast to kickstart their day. We want to immerse ourselves in things that make us feel good. But sometimes it takes more than a face mask and some healthy food to feel better about ourselves.

It can be hard to remember our worth when there is little to no balance in the message we receive from the world about how to make ourselves better.  The things we scroll through daily (such as bloggers who have Konmari’d their closets to absolute perfection, or instagram models promoting yet another weight-loss tea to their followers) can be extremely discouraging when we are not in the mindset to admire, but rather to envy. If I am being completely honest, I think the messages we are receiving are meant to breed self-hatred.  Self-hatred is a silent killer. The more we hate ourselves, the more time and money we spend attempting to “fix” things. This leads to shallow attempts at hating ourselves less. We compare our lives and appearances to the seemingly-better people around us; the people who “have it together.” It sounds cliché, but it is undeniably true.  

Undoing the tangles of negative self image is not an easy task. Our mental health can become so damaged from years of negative reinforcement. Watch out for yourself by not allowing those damaging thoughts to ruin your entire perception of yourself. Let yourself feel the peace of simply being take over. The voice in your head telling you that you are not worthy or not good enough is a liar.  Please, turn your eyes and hearts away from the things that fuel self-hatred or self-loathing. This part isn’t easy, since no one knows our flaws like we do. If comparison is something you struggle with, eliminating the use of social media may be beneficial. Or try turning the comparison into positivity by seeing someone’s success as encouragement rather than a way to evaluate shortcomings. I promise, you are enough.