Dawn Gluskin wrote:

“All you need is love.” The Beatles knew what was up! Love really is all you need… self-love, that is. The foundation of a happy life, healthy relationships, and achieving every bit of greatness you were put onto this earth for does not exist anywhere externally. Its all right inside! Tapping into love of self is what allows us to opens doors to infinite possibilities. Everything weve created in our outside world is a reflection of what is going on with us internally. So, if you have a tough time fully accepting and loving yourself because of past circumstances, or due to holding yourself up to ridiculous high standards, or because you dont believe the truth that you are meant to shine, than the world around you is going to reflect as such. When self-love is missing, it manifests into negative actions and emotions like insecurity, feelings of lacking, and unhealthy comparison to others.

Inner-peace, on the other hand, is the catalyst to rocking your outside world in a totally awesome way. Imagine being completely accepting of yourself, including all of your flaws and past mistakes: “Were not here to be perfect, were here to live and to feel and to learn and to grow!” Imagine being super-confident in your abilities and embracing the gifts that you have: “We all have our own unique talents that can literally change the world.” Imagine not easily being swayed by the opinion of others, I mean literally not caring what anybody else says or thinks because its just their opinion, which has nothing to do with you: “You know what you were born to do and nothing is going to stop you.” This is self-love, baby! Self-Love is not the same thing as vanity. But, we often get it twisted! Vanity and narcissism are actually the opposite of self-love, as they are based in fear and lack. It is when the ego mind wants to make you feel special or better than others and thus creates illusions to support the idea. Its when motivation comes from hopes of gaining attention or acceptance rather than coming from the heart and done with pure intentions. Confident people who love themselves unconditionally do not think they are better than anybody else. Contrarily, they tend to see the beauty and oneness in all. Having true love and acceptance of self allows you to love and accept others more deeply, as well as receive love more fully.

Please read the rest of Dawn’s post here: Dawn Gluskin: All You Need Is Love — of Self!.

Personally, I prefer the term self-compassion, but the message is the same; it is very difficult to aspire to thought leadership if you have not met your inner critic with love and compassion. How can you rock the world if your inner world is rocked by turmoil?

If this resonates with you, I encourage you to investigate the work of Kristen Neff on the topic of self-compassion. She has 4 great articles online at Psychology Today and if you like that her book on self-compassion by the same name will be a good investment…

Related articles

• Compassion Begins with Self (inspire1life.com)
• The Chemicals of Care: How Self-Compassion Manifests in Our Bodies (toddlohenry.com)
• Overcoming Obstacles to Happiness and Success (psychologytoday.com)
• Time has a way of healing and providing clarity …by Dawn Gluskin (notsalmon.com)