A Poem About What Self-Love Is and Why It’s Important
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Self-Love
A Poem by Ashley C. Cantave
If you’re like me
You’ve often thought self-love
Was something bad
Something that should be avoided
Something selfish people had.
I thought I should be selfless
Always giving even when
I felt I had no more to give
No, give more even then.
Self-love is selfish,
That’s the way I saw it
In my mind
But after all these years I’ve learned
Self-love is something kind.
Self-love is kindness to yourself
It’s putting your needs first
So that you have enough to give
To others on the earth.
For if your needs have not been met
You’re pulling from reserves
That are, at best, depleted low
And completely empty, at worst.
Self-love means leaving people
Who don’t appreciate your worth,
Surrounding yourself with those who treat you
With the dignity you deserve.
Self-love is filling your days with things
That light you up with joy
It’s doing your best to remove the things
That do nothing but annoy.
It’s knowing where your boundaries are
And reinforcing them with care
It’s telling others they’ve overstepped
When they are unaware.
Self-love is saying no to something
You don’t want to do
And you don’t have to do
Because you’re not obligated to.
Self-love is saying yes to something
You would like to do
Even if others cannot see
How it is fun for you.
Self-love means taking time for you
To do the things that you want to
To learn or rest or be or do
Whatever things are calling you.
Self-love means holding firm to what
You believe to be true
Even if others think the opposite
And insist that you do, too.
Self-love means doing things that don’t
Make sense in others’ minds
Because you feel this is the path
For which you were designed.
Self-love means shedding old beliefs
For new ones that help you
Do what others think impossible
Because they don’t see what you do.
Self-love means that you care for you
The way you’d like someone else to
Self-love means that you value you
The way you insist others do.
I could go on and on about
What self-love really is
But after what I’ve said so far
I think you get the gist.
So, whatever else you may have heard
About self-love before
You need it if you’re going to have
A life that you adore.
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