CULTURE

Loving You – an Emotional Approach to Self-Love

Life isn’t cut and dry.

It’s not cookie-cutter. Life is messy and complicated and downright heartbreaking at times, but that’s just life. We go with the ebbs and flows and end up stronger or that’s what I decided years ago and want you to decide for yourself as well. Our hope with this groundbreaking campaign is that you’ll end up stronger, wiser, and perhaps even a bit more level-headed, or one could hope.

Glitter started the #SelfLoveCampaign back in 2015 in hopes to spread the love, literally, and we’ve done just that with over 200 celebrities and counting joining in our campaign. In a world full of doubt and uncertainty, we need a little bit of peace. We need to know that there are others there for us, even when we think no one is there. This campaign was created out of that need.

I’ll let you in on a little secret…it took me years to love the person I am now, who I became today. And guess what? I love who I am today. I am a strong, independent woman, who knows what she wants and doesn’t back down! Have I lost friends over being like this? Sure, but everyone comes in our life and leaves our lives when their chapter is done. It doesn’t mean that that friendship didn’t mean anything. It just meant that their chapter in your life is over and a new one is about to begin so we embrace that new chapter. Never forgetting our past, and the lessons it may have taught us, but always looking forward and never looking back.

We take the good along with the bad. We struggle so that we know we are alive. Most importantly, we need to make sure that life doesn’t always get in the way because we all should demand the absolute best out of ourselves. We are capable of greatness and no one should tell us otherwise. Knowing a few simple things will help you move forward always.

There will always be road-bumps in life. There’s no easy way to say that. There just is. No one’s life is perfect. No one born had it easy. We all had a journey and a path to follow. Each different and made especially for each one of us.

Your heart will be broken more than once, twice, three times…fifty times. The point is your heart will be broken. You’ll feel like you can’t breathe, can’t move, can’t eat, can’t talk, can’t sleep. You’ll think it’s the end of the world and that no one could make you feel the way that John or Sally made you feel, but it’ll get better. I’m not saying each heartbreak is easier, but I am saying that each time, it happens you’ll find out what you do and you don’t want in a partner.

Demand respect. Sounds simple enough, but hard when the mind is clouded by a heart in love. Demand respect. Know it’s okay to walk away in a relationship. If they love you, they’ll come back and if not, it was never meant to be. The old adage, “If you love them set them free and if they come back it was always meant to be,” holds true here.

Know when to fight back and when to back down. You will always fight with your family, friends and loved ones, but it’s a matter of knowing how to pick your battles. You can’t win them all (even if you want to) and neither can they. Know you’re right? Then fight for it, but be cautious how you do it. Sometimes it might cause more damage than good.

Know when to call it quits. I was with one of my ex’s for almost a decade. I kept thinking I could change his mind. Maybe he’d want kids and a family, but the more that his friends got married and had kids, the further he pushed away from me proving that he was okay with where we were at, but I wasn’t. Stand up for yourself and back away if you need to. Your heart might shatter, but you’ll pick yourself back up again. I promise. Leaving him was the best decision I made because I’m now with someone who loves and respects me, and my stubbornness.

Make yourself irresistible. It’s okay to look great. In fact, I encourage it. Show people why you’re such a catch. It’s okay for them to see you. Let them see you from the inside out, but looking fabulous always plays a part.

Remember looks fade. By that I mean that when searching for a partner, find someone who makes you laugh, cry, and if you end up in jail, will end up there right with you. I’m not encouraging jail time by any means, but you know what I mean. They’ll be there with you in both the good times and the bad. If you find that, make sure you hold onto that. No matter what the cost.

Follow your dreams. By that I mean follow your own dreams, it’s simple. It’s okay to work for other people to start, but don’t forget your own dreams. Because before you know it, you’ll be helping someone else out with their dreams, instead of living your own, and if you’re not following your own dreams, your own life path, all you’ll ever be is disappointed.

The beauty about the path that we made that it can always be changed. In fact, I encourage you to change your path several times until you find what you want to know what you want to do in life at fifteen, thirty, fifty, even eighty. Change your path until you find what you love. You don’t always have to follow the yellow brick road unless, of course, that it takes you exactly where you belong. If it doesn’t, follow another road until it takes you towards your dreams.

The hardest fact we have to learn is to love and respect yourself. But I promise you that once you realize that loving you will never steer you wrong, everything will fall into place. It always does, as long as you believe it will. After all, the law of attraction always comes into play.

We invite you to join in Glitter’s #SelfLoveCampaign. Send us your 30-second videos on what self-love means to you to selflove@glittermagrocks.com, and who knows, you might be featured on our website.