I've learned that self-hatred, like depression, is a black-hole that has no bottom, a downward spiral with no end. Loving yourself, on the other hand, is a bright upward spiral that also has no end, much like an infinitely rising sun or an endlessly blossoming flower.
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Raam, you are a modern day philosopher and sage. You are tapped into life’s true gifts, unlike most I know that are chasing one thing or another. I firmly believe in your statement and am ever so careful not to allow my path to tilt downward in the least, as gravity will tug and begin me down that perilous spiraling road. Your understanding of depression is spot on from a spiritual perspective. It also has a firm biological basis. As depression entangles axons and neurons in our one thinking computer, it literally rewires the brain physically in a way that becomes increasingly difficult to unravel. I wish you could have talked to my brother, whose mind fell down this spiral. Unfortunately, as with many, his spiral did have an end.
Thank you for the comment, Joel. Yes, you’re right, there certainly is, unfortunately, an end to that downward spiral for some, but one might say that those downward spirals really to not end, they just get spread around to those whose lives are affected by the premature end of another.
Fortunately we all have the power to turn any negativity into positivity, even when that negativity is passed on to us by someone else we have the ability to learn from it and allow it to make us a better, not bitter, person. I think you’re a shining example of that, Joel.
Loving yourself also has other benefits…
When you love yourself, you can begin to show love to others.
When you show love to others, you may be the encouragement they need to overcome a challenge in their life and begin the positive cycle of passing on love all over again.
In the process you also reap the benefits of knowing you made a positive difference in this world and in other peoples lives.
That, is something worth striving for 🙂
Great points, Miles! Thank you. Yes, learning to love yourself begins a virtuous cycle that benefits everyone, even those who don’t come in direct contact with us. 🙂 To change the world, we must begin with changing ourselves.
Hi. Great statement 🙂 .
I find the concept sometimes difficult to understand, although I feel I understand love and am positive in general, when it comes to ‘loving myself’ I’m not so sure. It can easily get confused with pride, which as we know comes before the fall.
Recently a few separate people have advised me to love myself. I’m guessing it means to have tough love as well, seeing as I’ve got all angles of pampering myself down pat.
Tough love for me means admitting I have short term needs that have to be met through actively seeking out work that I may or may not “like.” Like everyone else.
To me, Loving Yourself means embracing your unique potential, embracing the fact that you are a unique and powerful individual. Loving yourself results in self-esteem and self-confidence but real love does not lead to pride, or egotism, or elitism, or a sense of being more important than anyone else. It’s about recognizing that you are both nothing and everything, that embracing your insignificance in this universe is just as important as the reality that you are at the center of that same universe, that without you, there is nothing else. Loving yourself is loving life, and existence, and the state of being a conscious being, and loving that you have the opportunity to love.
Raam, your thoughts and ideas inspire me to think more deeply and to see my life more clearly. You are so right when you place self-hatred as the cause of depression and self-love as the impetus for spiritual healing. May we all learn to love ourselves so that we can truly love others with a clear heart.
Thank you, Carol. 🙂
Love this Raam..beautiful..OM
Thank you, mom! 🙂