"To get wisdom is to love oneself."
I love to browse my journals from time to time to get inspirations and remember where I was to appreciate where I am now.
When I was browsing my journal, I saw this verse from Proverbs 19:8 that caught my attention,
"To get wisdom is to love oneself."
The verse made me stop and reflect because I always believe that self-love is crucial to success in life and to be the best version of yourself. I am amazed that Self-Love is written in the Sacred Scriptures.
What does Wisdom mean?....I asked Mr. Google.
According to Mr. Google, "Wisdom is the soundness of action or decision about the application of experience, knowledge, and judgment."
What is the meaning of "To Get Wisdom is to Love Oneself?"
If you love yourself, you can make sound decisions in almost everything, if not every aspect of your life. Why because you are motivated by love, and you will not do things that will intentionally harm yourself and others.
It means your responses are more proactive rather than reactive because you know who you are and what you stand for.
You speak according to your truth and being comfortable with your being.
It means being happy by being you.
When you are connected to your inner self, you love yourself, you will listen to that inner voice that guides you. Within you is Wisdom.
There are times in my life that I don't listen to myself. I make decisions out of fear and insecurities. There are times that I am not true to myself or repressed my own voice because I am afraid to offend people or be rejected. In the process, I harm myself and even others.
But isn't it loving yourself is an act of selfishness?
Many people think that if you love yourself, you are being selfish. Taking care of oneself first before others is being self-centered.
We go against our calling to serve and to be selfless.
But the truth is, you cannot give what you don't have. If you don't love yourself, how can you give love to other people?
If you're doing what you are doing and there is no LOVE within you, you will not be completely happy. In fact, you might be complaining all the time, critical, and always finding fault.
But if you love yourself, your service will come from within you. Your love will overflow that even the most challenging job, and dealing with the hardest people in the world will not break you down. It may shake you, but it won't fall you apart.
If you love yourself, you will take care of you.
Remember the time when you have so many things to do, and you forget to spend some time for yourself? You fail to exercise; you are not able to do the things that you love to do. You just work, work, work?
What happens? It affects your sleeping pattern. You are so tired. As a result, you become so cranky and irritable. You are so emotional. You are so tired and sleepy that you make a lot of mistakes with your paperwork. You had no energy. On top of that, since you cannot exercise, you feel sick, and your body feels stiff.
Love is a gift. It is the gift of God to us.
How can you develop self-love?
There are different ways to develop self-love, and one of that is to know yourself.
Know who you are. Know who you are in the eyes of your Creator. You are created in the image and likeness of your God. So you are somebody.
Know who you are- your talents, skills, strengths, your goodness, and even your weaknesses, your limitations, your personality.
But sometimes, as you look at yourself and don't like yourself because what you see are negative things about you. You see your limitations and weaknesses instead of the beautiful in you; DECIDE to love yourself anyway.
Sometimes we criticize ourselves when we fail and make mistakes.
Make a decision instead of criticizing to hug yourself and tell yourself that it is okay. It is okay to fail. It is okay to make mistakes, but learn from it and move forward.
When you decide to love yourself and take steps to express love for yourself, you will eventually feel that love.
Take simple steps to express love for yourself. Maybe you can take a five-minute break away from things or situations that cause you stress. You can read your favorite book, listen to your favorite songs, or dance.
Next is to develop and enhance your self-awareness by spending time alone with yourself. Spending time in silence and listening to your body and being aware of what you're thinking and how it affects you.
To deepen self-awareness, practice prayers and meditation, and mindfulness practices.
Prayer and meditation help me know and love myself. Knowing how I am wonderfully made, I appreciate more for myself. It also helps deepen my relationship with my God.
I urge you to love yourself because, at the end of the day, the only person who will stand by you, will stay with you, will go with you wherever you go, and will be there for you is YOU.
Be yourself, best friend.
When there's no one else around to share when you experience victory in your life, and no one will listen to your sorrow. You have no shoulder to cry on because other people are busy; you have You!
So, love yourself. You cannot hide and run away from You.
One of the fantastic things that will happen to you too when you love yourself, people will feel it, and they will learn to love you, and if not, they will learn to respect you.
Love yourself
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