February 2024

February Thought for the Month

"Drop the people who do not value you, respect you. Life has infinite horizons. Accept yourself, love yourself, and move forward."

~ Amit Ray

In February thoughts turn to Valentine's Day and celebrating the love and friendship we have for the people in our lives. I'd like to encourage everyone to give themselves a little love too.

Was your first thought "Isn't that selfish?" From our early school days we have heard that we must think of others, be nice to others, but rarely are we told to think of ourselves first. I don't know where I heard this, but someone once said that you can't love others until you can love yourself.

I believe it. When we love ourselves in a balanced way, we don't put ourselves down. We expect more from ourselves. We give ourselves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to our dreams. That leads to feeling good about ourselves, and that positive mindset reflects in the way we interact in our world.

One of the many benefits of balanced self love is that we are more open to seeing how negative people, places, and influences hurt us and taking actions to protect ourselves. It's not an easy thing to do, but doing nothing and allowing the negative situation to continue does more harm than good. Unless we eliminate the negative — or at least add more positivity to counter those unavoidable bad influences — it will be nearly impossible to make any real progress on the dreams and goals we are meant to accomplish in life.

So every day, do something to nourish your love of self so that you can be the best you and in turn help others to do the same.

[Thought and image design by Elaine C. Oldham]