Self-love, one of the purest forms of love but in my opinion, it is also one of the most underrated. Now I'm not saying underrated because not everyone loves themselves, but I'm saying underrated because we often take for granted just what self-love can do for us. 

We often hear that to truly find someone to love and to love that person back, we must first love ourselves. To some degree, I can agree with that, but in the same breath, it feels like when this is said then you are also saying that someone is not worthy of being loved because they don't love themselves. I don't like that, because you can truly love someone even if you're not completely in love with yourself. Now if it's true love, which I hope we can get into some other time, then that person will help you to love and cherish every part of yourself that you didn't once love. 

Now loving others aside, self-love can open a whole lot of other avenues for you in life. It can bring you the confidence to be unapologetically you, and that means standing behind everything that you say or do. That means never letting anyone discourage you from doing what you love or being who you are. Self-love leads you in the direction of knowing your worth, and never, ever accepting anything less. 

Those two things are only the beginning of what self-love has in store for you, it also leads to healing all of the hurt inside of you. 

While I can tell you all about the benefits of self-love, I can't tell you how to love yourself or how to heal from the things you don't want to talk about. What I will tell you is that it is the beginning of an unexplainable peace, and once you begin to find that peace, I pray that you never lose it. 

Just remember self-love, starts with self-care. So, don't forget to take that time for yourself. After reading this, I would like for you to sit in front of a mirror with a sheet of paper and list at a minimum of five things that you truly love about yourself. Then as yourself how easy was that. We all need to work on self-love, and I swear the more you love about yourself the easier this list is to create because the list will just go on and on. 

T. Neal | Cambridge, MD

Disclaimer: Fenix Youth Project Inc. supports young writers and their voices and providing them with a platform to submit think pieces, poetry, short stories, and also reflect on experiences and program events. All blog posts are reviewed by the Executive Director, Amber Green. Blog posts are the opinions and reflections of writers and do not represent the organization as a whole. Questions and comments can be emailed to ambergreen@fenixyouthproject.org.