In her book ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, American Author Elizabeth Gilbert narrates an incident. One day, she was walking hurriedly through New York City. All of sudden, she was struck by her reflection on a mirror by the wayside. Looking at her reflection, she said to herself: O! I know this person very well… She is my best friend!
We live in a world, where people are not able to love themselves or value themselves. Is it not a pathetic thing that we are not able to take ourselves seriously?
Let us see what Elizabeth Gilbert did afterwards. She embraced her reflection. She kissed herself. Later in her life, whenever she had to pass through distressing situations, she used to remember this instance and it helped her to overcome her despair and sorrows.
One of the main reasons that helps us to find our happiness is to explore ourselves as our best friend. We arepeople who pursue others for friendship. Even though it is essential in life, first of all we need to accept and love ourselves as our own friend. To rise up to such a state, we need to do the following things:
Set aside time for yourselves
Out of the 24 hours in a day, we need to set aside some time for our own happiness. It could be for reading a book or a periodical, writing a poem, playing a musical instrument or listening to songs. Spend at least a few minutes a day for yourself.
Discover your good qualities and talents
Most people look at the capabilities, talents and success of others and get disappointed about themselves. But, why do you fail to realize that you are equally talented or even more talented than those people? If you do not accept yourselves, who else will accept you? Stop envying others and start to feel proud and happy about your talents.
Listen to the voice of your inner critic
Always give ears to the voice of your conscience, and go forward accordin- gly.
Forgive yourself
You may be a person who has fallen and failed many times in life. But, you should be able to forgive yourself. If you are not able to forgive yourself, who else will forgive you?
Care for yourself
You should care for your body and soul. You need adequate sleep, good food, exercise etc. Also follow a tension-free lifestyle. You should also give attention to your physical appearance.
Respect yourself
Whoever you are, you should be able to respect yourself. You should discover your value.
Gratify your needs
If you want something and you think that it is essential for you, do get it. This does not mean that, in these times of consumerism, we need to go after everything we get in the market.
Meditate on the good things in you
There is a lot of goodness in you. Perhaps, even your life partner may not be understanding or recognizing the good in you. Do not get disappointed about it. Discover your goodness, proclaim it and rejoice in it.
Exalt yourself
You might have gone wrong; you might have fallen. But, it is you who have to get up. Rise by yourself, walk and take a leap forward.
Say to yourself that I am good
Say to yourself: I am good and I deserve happiness. I deserve a good life.
Chase your dreams
Others may feel that your dreams are trivial. They might even belittle them. But, never renounce nor abandon your dream.
Believe in yourself
Believe in yourself and have elevated thoughts about yourself.
Accept yourself
Accept yourself as you are. Accept your weakness as you accept your power. You might succeed in some places and fail in other places. You might be loved in some places and rejected in other places. You are a combination of both these. When you start to accept yourself, you will be able to rejoice in this paradox.
In a nutshell, you are the one who has to decide whether you need to be happy or not. For that, primarily, you need to make friends with yourself. Be merciful to yourself. Be in love with yourself. Then you will be able to love yourself. Nobody can take away that happiness from you.
