Erika Pineda

Ms. McVey
English 3- Block B
1 October 2019

Self Love and the Importance of it

First, I will start with a scenario. You and your boyfriend go out on a date and he drops
you off at your house. You are on you front door step he says “I love you” for the first time. You
get this warm fuzzy feeling inside of you. But what about when you say the words to yourself.
“I love you”. Do you get the same feeling? The feeling of love is a powerful thing. It feels good
to be loved. And a form of love that is most important is self love. Self love is not something that
can be gained in an instant but takes time to work on and achieve. I myself admit that I have
trouble with it and am slowly learning how to truly achieve self love. Unfortunately, today in our
society loving yourself can become difficult, especially for teens. A main component to this
struggle is social media. For example, I am scrolling through Instagram and see a photo of a
female model. I like the photo of course but then I start to compare myself to her. Am I skinny
enough? Why can’t my skin be clear like hers? These comparisons and thoughts can really
damage how I look at myself. I start to think bad thoughts, my confidence decreases, and I
slowly start to dislike how I look. The way you think about yourself reflects who you are. Self
love can impact relationships. If a person is constantly judging themselves, how can they love
others? You must love yourself before you can learn to love others. If you are a person that loves
yourself fully, that is amazing, keep on doing it! However, this may not be the case for everyone.
Loving yourself means caring about your needs and wants. You must work hard to achieve inner
happiness. If you struggle with loving yourself remember that no one is perfect. Everyone has
faults and mistakes and there is no reason to be beating yourself up constantly about it.