I think it's more about being a part of healthy relationships, whatever form they take. And the people who love you, want you to love yourself they way they do, the way you want them to love themselves for all the beauty you see in them, that they in turn can see in you.
If you love others, but not yourself, you can more easily fall into being all give and no take. And that can distress those who care for you, and hurt or push away people who want to help, or who need to be needed. No one is an island, we need other people, and there's no moral judgement, or failure, or greed in that. It is the nature of being Human, or a eusocial mammal in general.
Having a healthy relationship with yourself, makes navigating and cultivating relationships a lot less treacherous. Social dynamics can get really fine and finicky, and seemingly small shifts in perspective can lead to very different long-term patterns or consequences.
We're none of us perfect. We make mistakes, sometimes, terrible ones. But we can learn to be better, we can commit to learning from those mistakes, and never making them again. We can change. It takes work, and effort, and perseverance, but ultimately, we are who we choose to be. We can cultivate what is the best of ourselves, and seek the company who bring our best to the surface, and do our best to kindle that in others.
You don't vanquish evil by destroying it. It is born from suffering, and violence, and cruelty. You vanquish evil by *starving* it. With compassion, and mercy, and generosity. And if you want the world to change, the best way is to practice that change. And the most logistically convenient place to start is with yourself.
If everyone deserves compassion, then so do you.
If everyone deserves respect, then so do you.
If everyone has inherent worth, then so do you.
It's not easy. But the best way to fight what you don't like about yourself, is to cultivate the parts of yourself you do like, you are proud of. Or that you want to like, or want to be proud of. And if you can't see them for yourself, find friends that can see from the outside looking in, what you can't from the inside looking out.
The plants that get the water grow, the plants that don't wither.
And Neuroplasticity means you do get better at it, and it gets easier with practice. Speaking from experience. There are good days, and bad days, but the good days either get a little more common, and the bad days a bit easier to navigate (breaking out of spirals or circles, learning when you need to distract yourself because negative reinforcement is not helping).
Wishing you the best. And may the compassion, and positivity, and joy you bring into the world come back to you.
izzy806
areudirty
prguitarman
pixelskylines
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