The Potential of Falling in Love with Yourself

“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely”
Carl Gustav Jung quotes

I will shortly be running a series of workshops throughout February 2008 on sensuality and empowerment. The above topic is one which is part of the series. Details of workshops can be found below. Yet you may well ask why a workshop on this subject? Tina Turner used to sing “What’s love got to do with it?” and this is so true for many of us today. We no longer love who we are and what we are about, in fact many of us no longer know who we are, so the potential of falling in love with ourselves can seem very remote.

How many of us can really say with conviction and certainly that we love ourselves unconditionally? And yes, this is a difficult question, much easier said than done. This is because there are so many things that influence how we feel about ourselves, how we view ourselves, our bodies. This therefore has an influencing effect on how our minds operate, our behaviour and as a result what we actually understand about “loving ourselves”.

“You can explore the universe looking for somebody who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and you will not find that person anywhere.” Author Unknown

Firstly, we live in a society which never really encourages or acknowledges self love. This is because the love of self often gets mixed up with arrogance and vanity. Yet to really learn to fall in love with who we are, with our very essence, with the shape of our bodies, the colour of our skin, our very make-up is often dissected into the minefield of what is portrayed to us on a daily basis. Through various mediums, from the tv, newspapers, magazines, billboards etc. Subliminal messages surface all around us on a continuous basis until we become puppets of a power more greater than we are aware of. Therefore, after a while our perception of self changes. We do not reflect back what we are being bombarded by. Our images do not mirror what is on our screens. This then often draws us to the false conclusion that we are “outsiders”, freaks, something wrong with us. Then the self loathing and chipping away at our uniqueness and inner beauty begins to happen, perpetuated by other things such as other people’s reactions to us and their limited beliefs. For others, the loathing of the self comes from very painful and negative experiences.

“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance”
Oscar Wilde

Self love is learning to love who we are no matter what the fashion statement of the moment, no matter whether size zero is in or not, regardless of which celebrity is wearing what or eating what. It is about you completely and utterly looking yourself in the eye and acknowledging your beauty, your uniqueness and what you truly are and also who you represent. Yet, in the quote above, by Oscar Wilde, this is a life long romance. Learning to love yourself is a journey of growth, enlightenment and awareness.

Therefore, the potential to fall in love with yourself, once you come into the light of awareness is a wonderful place to be. No longer will you feel inhibited by the controls and dictates of what the masses are doing or how they are dressing. No longer will you allow outside influences to persuade or sway how you feel about yourself. You will learn and can learn to be in control and you can once again access the potential to fall in love with yourself, time and time and time again.