THE FOUNDATION OF SELF WORTH AND SELF LOVE

I can't sit here and tell you to love yourself and to find confidence within your individuality and expect for the world's issues to be resolved. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way, nor is it that simple. Everyone has their own individual journey through life which also means that advice given to one person that works for them, may not work for the next person. I can however, share the foundation of what built up my own self worth and self love. It's a long, winding road to self acceptance and peace within our true selves, but it is possible, and we must never give up on it. 


THE MEANING OF LIFE |

They say life is about finding yourself. In my personal opinion, we already know ourselves from the moment we are brought into this Earth. Because when we are that young and that fresh to the world, there are no outside influences, there are no worries of judgment or meeting any standards. That's why it's so heartwarming to watch kids messing around and being silly without a care in the world. My mother always tells this story to everyone. The story of whenever she would sit me down into the shopping trolley at a supermarket, I would instantly start to sing at the top of my lungs and people would come from every isle to see where the voice was coming from. Little kids don't care what they look like, or who is around to see them. It's something that is inevitably lost as we age. In a sense we have to in order to mature and grow in a positive way, but with society and the way we are headed in this day and age, a lot of the influence has turned bitter. We must remember too that society is made up of us, so if we are the ones that created all of these issues that have great impact on the emerging generations, we can also reverse it if we just learnt to work as one big team rather than finding every way to degrade each other.


FORGETTING THE MEDIA |

I worry for the generations to come. I worry for my kids one day, growing up with these issues. It seems that more and more these days people are finding it harder to hold on to themselves and are cracking under the pressure of all the things we must be in order to fit into this society. Let me just say that society is filled with trends and we all know that trends come and go with the seasons and once those trends are dead, everyone is looking for the next big one so they can feel satisfied with themselves. Loving yourself is such a simple concept but it has become so over complicated by all of these contradictory standards that are pushed on the daily through the media. So just for the sake of the present, I want you to take a few deep breathes and try your best to forget all of that even exists. it is just you, and this article.


REMEMBERING THE IMPORTANT THINGS |

Lets take a minute to remember how amazing this body you inhabit is. You are riding on autopilot, it's got your back every second of every single day. When all else seems to fail in your life it's got you. Even when it slips up and gets ill, it does everything in it's power to fight those nasties off. Ask yourself this, do you treat it equally as well in return? The answer will most likely be no. Because you can eat as healthily as you want, exercise every day and still not be treating it as best you can because of those toxic thoughts that pop into your head every so often. Those "little thoughts" add up. They are the toxic thoughts that break our self confidence.

You need to know that you are your own best friend. When no one else has your back, you have yourself. No one can be trusted more than you can trust yourself. No one can know you better than you know yourself. When you are distraught over your own body, crying yourself to sleep, feeling betrayed by someone else, you are the only one you have. You are the only one you have when you are all alone to keep you company and reassure you that you're beautiful and worthy.


THE FOUNDATION OF SELF LOVE |

The foundation of self love is knowing that you are there for you and you are loved. Your body expresses love for you every single day by keeping you alive on this beautiful planet. Take the time to start acknowledging that, you'd be surprised how much it changes your outlook. Forget anything you've ever been told you must be by the media and just be yourself. It may take a while to find yourself again but isn't that what life truly is about? It's not about finding yourself, it's about rediscovering yourself and growing and learning in the process. So wear whatever the hell you want, look however the hell you want to look, and do whatever you want to do with your life. So long as you have good intentions and do everything with love and kindness and passion, you are set. It all starts with accepting yourself. You are just as worthy as any one else in this world. We are all worthy. No one is better than anyone else. We are all living on this planet together. We should spend less of our time here worrying about what others think, and trying to be someone we're not, and more time adventuring, being carefree, achieving goals and being proud of ourselves for being unapologetically ourselves.

All and all these are a whole bunch of words muddled onto a page, but I hope they spark some meaning to you and guide you even just the tiniest bit on your journey to rediscovering yourself.

Much love,

Ashley x

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG1xASOwRtQ&t=15s