Practice Loving Yourself

I am currently reading True Love by Thich Nhat Hanh and in the book he cites something that Buddha said about practicing loving yourself. In short he said, if you are not able to take care of yourself, if you are not able to accept yourself, how could you accept another person and how can you love him or her? Bingo.

I wrote a few months ago that the most important relationship you have is with yourself. It may seem selfish but what kind of relationship do you have with the person that you are with 24/7? You are the only person who really knows you. You know your inner most thoughts and desires, you know your fears, hope for the future, your mistakes, etc. You know everything about yourself. How do you treat the person you know inside and out?We keep waiting for perfection. We feel like we want to be perfect before we love someone else or someone else loves us. There are no perfect people. That person you think is perfect has many character flaws. It's okay to love yourself as is. We love everyone else as is, don't you deserve that?

If you want to practice unconditional love, practice on yourself. Instead of reliving a mistake, acknowledge it, comfort yourself, and let it go. Take the good, bad, and ugly about yourself and love all of it.