The Most Important One To Love

There are so many kinds of love: puppy love, childlike love, friendship love, family love, passionate love and the heart-warming, butterfly-inspiring, never-ending, lifelong partner kind of love we all look for and hopefully experience and enjoy.

There is nothing more loving than showing someone how much you care through your actions. Saying "I love you" is one thing, but when we really treasure someone, we want that person to see and experience our love, not just hear us say it.

If you love your children, you treat them well, nurture them, help them, stand by them, hug and kiss them and promise to do so forever.

If you love your sister/brother, you have fun with them, spend time with them, giggle with them, share secrets with them and promise to do so forever.

If you love your spouse, you speak kindly to them, honor them, are truthful to them, share your dreams with them and dedicate your time together to living life to the fullest.

But what about the kind of love we have for ourselves?  

If your actions to others is the best measure of how much you love them, shouldn't that be how you measure the love and respect you have for your body, your mind and your spirit? So step back and take a measure: How much do you love you?

How do you treat yourself? How do you nurture your mind and body? How do you support your choices? How do you honor your spirit? How truthful are you? How well do you treat yourself?

The most important relationship we have is the one we forget about. The most important person to nurture, support, respect, honor, care for, be kind to, be dedicated to, LOVE...is you.

Too often, though, we chose to fill our bodies with non-nurturing foods that make us feel disgusting and embarrassed. We find excuses to skip the supportive workout that would give strength to our body and spirit and avertingly look away from the mirror because guilt and disrespect fill our eyes. We retaliate against this continual behavior with the most internal and cutting kind of mental damage we can create and pretend it isn't happening. We have secrets we think no one can see. We show ourselves the most abusive kind of love there is.

If your actions depict how you really feel, begin the change today. Show the person that means most – the person that you will be with forever and the person who ultimately effects every other relationship you have and the way you share your love with them – that you care enough to love YOU.