Self Love or Selfish

Love is more than a feeling; it is a quality that you can live by. There is a longing to love and be loved.

You may have learned to seek love, along with all your desires, from outside of yourself rather than finding it within.

Last week I wrote about compassion and acting lovingly. While reflecting on that conversation I decided to elaborate on the difference or the line between self-love and selfishness. There is confusion between these two topics because they have been related one to another. If you take each of these subjects individually you might notice that this connection is present as a way to control your behaviour.

Self-love is allowing your self to be wholly yourself. It is letting in all that is needed for you to fully embrace yourself. Being able to keep the feeling in your heart that you are completely worthy can feel selfish, but once you are able to do this you can share your gifts. Once you accept your qualities as beauty, you are able explore different aspects of yourself and you can be open to all possibilities with a kind and gentle heart.

When your heart is open to your possibilities you can allow others the same freedom. A core human value is to relate authentically. To be able to give of yourself you must start with being caring with yourself and feeling the gift you are to the world. A central part of being loving to yourself is being your true higher self and this includes an innate desire to take others into consideration.

Being open hearted is a way to look inside yourself so that you are guided towards your interests and can create from this place. This is the insight that will help you know how to act, what steps to take to nourish yourself, and how to connect with others.

What is selfishness? Selfishness is a construct of the outside world trying to force you to act with love. If you withhold love from yourself you will be restricting what you are able to share with others.

To move into living with an open heart towards yourself and others:
• Begin to know yourself, be at peace with yourself and act with gratitude for yourself.
• Be able to live in truth with yourself and others. As this begins to feel more natural you will find ways to fill yourself up and build connections with others.
• Begin to add nourishing and healthy activities into your life.

When you allow yourself the act from love, selfishness is dissolved.

Open heartedness is a part of personal expansion. Please join in this conversation about living from the inside out. You can leave a comment at http://www.livinginsideout.ca , contact me at 613-292-0652 or by e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) .