An Ode to Self Love: Your Body is Waiting For You to Love Yourself

By Ashley Fernandes, a Life’s Rails Blog Contributor

“If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.”

Charles Bukowski

Self-love is possibly the most difficult love to come by. Going through a journey toward loving ourselves requires us to question the definition of beauty and what it means to us. In a world where the need for physical beauty bombards us daily through various forms of media, this does not usually come easily for most people.

If we choose to let this powerful form of love into our lives, the love that we have for ourselves may spill out into the world to inspire others, too.

This blog is a testament to self-love, designed to help you — yes, you! — to see yourself through a lens of beauty, worthiness and inspiration. Despite how much you may have mistreated it in the past, your body is still waiting for you to love yourself, and it has been very patient. Be patient with yourself as you read the words below, visualizing that every single word has been written just for you.

There is More to You Than Just Outer Beauty

Our bodies are like Easter eggs. We often spend so much time decorating the shell with different colours and patterns, focusing so much on the outward appearance of the egg, that we forget to notice what lies within it. No matter how much paint gets put upon the surface, staining it with tints of blue, red and maybe even the darkest black, the inside of the egg remains the same. A golden yolk sits hidden beyond what any of us can see, a reminder that although our outer shell may appear damaged, our inner self is what matters the most. While our outer bodies are certainly a part of us, that little voice in your head is the real you — the golden yolk — not the shell that people see everyday.

There is more to us than just our physical beauty. The inside is where true beauty is seen. Except it is not “seen” at all, but rather, felt. The raw and authentic beauty of a person does not come from the shape of their body, the features on their face, or the clothes they wear, but from the way they conduct themselves and treat others around them. The beauty in a smile does not come from the way a person’s mouth looks, but the utter joy and happiness that lies behind it.

The common saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” rings true here. What one finds beautiful may be completely different to the beauty that another sees. It is important to note how beauty does not have a mold — it is free-flowing and unrestrained, and can take on the form of many different things at once. Flowers and Christmas lights hold hardly any similarities, and yet they are both beautiful in their own sense of the term. Your body is waiting for you to love yourself so that you can see the intricate and wonderfully unconventional ways in which you are beautiful.

The Beauty of the Human Body

Besides our personalities and the uniqueness of our feelings and emotions, even the inner body in its biological form is beautiful. There is beauty in simply existing as a human being made of stardust and particles of the universe. Water, the ever-flowing essence of life, makes up to 60% of the human body. Typically-developed people have five senses that allow us to explore the world around us in vibrant ways. We see rainbows, hear music and feel the softness of another’s skin against ours. How wonderful it is that we can taste the sweetness of a honeydew melon on a hot summer’s day!

Even more spectacularly, if you are a cis-woman, you hold the blessing of being able to create and sustain life. Your body takes only nine months to form a tiny human within the confines of your nourishing womb. It then produces life-giving milk to provide that human with necessary nutrients that will grow them bigger and stronger until they are able to sustain themselves. Those stretch marks? A reminder that your body stretched and changed itself so that it could bear the sweetest fruit of all — your beautiful, giggling baby.

Your body is a vessel of hope, fertility and healing. It is strong, resilient and determined to take care of you. It will go to war and back to heal you from sickness and to keep you alive. As we nourish our bodies with healthy food and mindful movement, it rewards us with energy and vitality that leaves us feeling happier and satisfied. Your body is waiting for you to love yourself so that it can bring you the abundance it has the potential to offer. Our bodies give us so much because they love us — consider taking the time out of your day to show that you love it back.

Your Accomplishments Are Beautiful and Good Enough

When was the last time you showed appreciation for yourself for doing something you felt proud of? 

Maybe it was so long ago you can hardly even remember. Maybe it was all the way back when you were a child and an adult told you to pat yourself on the back for the magnificent work you did on a drawing. And you might remember feeling so proud of the ounce of beauty you brought into this world. So powerful within yourself. All you did was scribble a few lines on a paper, but you found it amazing enough to be hung up on the fridge for the world to see. You pointed it out to everyone who walked past, never once wiping off that pleased grin off your face. 

Why is it that so many of us find it difficult to be this kind toward ourselves as we get older? Why are we so afraid to show the world what we are truly capable of doing and being?

Many of us have been judged, ridiculed and shamed for several different reasons. Whether it be for the way we look, the way we express or define ourselves, or for things we have done in the past, it is crucial to remember that no matter what, our accomplishments, however small, are worthy of praise and congratulations.

Why? Because it came from you. And anything that you do is beautiful. Self-love not only means loving every inch of your body, but also loving what comes from it. Maybe for you, that might be art, music, writing, or a hobby or skill you worked hard on. Perhaps there is a painting you were too afraid to show anyone, or a hand-knitted sweater you felt that wasn’t good enough to be worn. The beautiful things that arise simply from your existence are ready to be loved by you and others, too. 

So, go on. Show them what you are made of. And love yourself for doing that, too.