Student Blog: Self Love Can Change Everything

This past year, with quarantine I've been learning how to DIY room decorations, how to do different tie-dye patterns, and other stuff, but the most important thing I've learned was to love myself, and I'm proud of that. Recently ,self-love has become a common topic of conversation, for example, with your friends circle you can talk about going to therapy, and even if not everyone can say it out loud, listening to others or reading others might help and that's why I'm sharing four things that might seem pretty easy or basic, but really helped me through this process of loving myself.

1.- Put your thoughts on paper

Writing things down, for me, it's a way to accept them, especially feelings, that makes you analyze whole situations, which leads you to the next step that is looking for possible solutions. I started writing everytime I felt sad, worried or scared, then I read it ; the first time I remember I was feeling overwhelmed, those words seem to talk about someone that was not me, and I felt bad because I was obviously writing about me, so for every negative world I thought of something positive or nice, realising that I should focus more on my skills and virtues and not my mistakes, and if I'm focusing on that, i'll be learning or looking for a way to be better.

2.-Believe in yourself

How many times we're being told our dreams are too big? In my case a lot, I've even told myself, but that's a huge mistake because clearly when you think about a big dream, instead of thinking about the things you have to do to make it happen, you think about the obstacles or problems you'll have to face while trying. So I made a list of everything I have to do to fulfill that dream, but to actually climb every step I started working on each goal; in my case, a couple of the steps were: being more confident when I speak in front of a crowd and practice my writing skills, that encouraged me to become part of my campus radio station and being host of one of the radio shows in which I talk about theatre, that actually has helped me and now it's something I really enjoy doing.

3.- Stop comparing yourself with others

This one is hard, because society always shows us perfect people that make us think "What am I doing wrong?", "Am I talented enough?" or "Should I give up?" And that, personally made me anxious because seeing everyone at my age doing great things, having a lot of friends and enjoying their youth, made me feel that I was not trying hard enough, that I needed to do more and that I was wasting time. But I realized that It's not a race, we have to live one day at a time, keep focusing but without losing ourselves and never forgetting to enjoy the ride.

4.-Have fun!

With everything we have to do as students , sometimes we forget to have fun but really have fun, not thinking about anything else for at least an hour a day, while doing something we love. I love reading but for months I was reading while thinking about what homework I needed to do or if I've studied enough for my exam and that just distracted me from my reading time. So I tried to disconnect when I have free time and decide I want to read, watch a movie or go walking, and it works, because having time for yourself strengthens self-love.

We're trying to fit in the world that surrounds us, but that world it's just part of the real one, that made me understand that if I start taking care of myself and loving myself today by writing in my journal, meditate, talking to my friends or enjoying my time alone, tomorrow I'll overcome things easily, and be sure that I'll be able to keep going no matter what, and if I need help I'll have to ask for it.

It's okay to feel scared or sad from time to time because we're human, but when that fear or sadness starts to ruin your job, your hobbies or your time to sleep, you need to stop and analyse what's going on. Hope this was helpful and motivates you to take that step, start taking care of yourself and loving yourself.