Love is All You Need

Boiled down to all of our essence, all we really want is to be loved...by our spouses, by our family, by the people we work with, by everyone. The key to being loved by all of these people is actually quite simple: love yourself first!

So how do you love yourself, why don't we love ourselves and why is this all you need? Let me start with the last question first: why is all we need to love ourself first? We need to accept ourself, to love ourself, in order to allow ourselves to be loved by others. If we can't love ourself, can't be worthy of our own love, how can we expect others to love us? Oh sure, our mom will still love us, and maybe our dad will love us, and yes, grandma and grandpa will still love us. But how deeply will they love us if we can't love ourselves, if we can't be open and honest with ourself first? Probably not as deeply as we need them to. We need to choose to love ourself, just like we choose a positive attitude. You've done bad things, or had bad things done to you, that make you feel badly. It's okay and in fact, it's perfectly normal.

Why don't we love ourselves? It goes back to the last word in last paragraph: normal. We don't think the things we do are "normal." We have unreasonable expectations of ourselves, and this leads us to not love ourselves as we should.

How do we learn to love ourselves? It begins with self-acceptance. Choose to accept yourself for who you are, warts and all, and then you can open yourself up to sharing your whole self with others.

The next thing to learning to love ourselves is changing our expectations of ourselves. We are only broken people in a broken world, and we are not perfect. We are not to be compared to anyone else, we just are what we are. We're meant to experience life as it comes, even when it's not "great" and to learn from our mistakes. I am often SO guilty of not doing this, but I'm working on it. It's not easy, but with practice, it will get better.

The last thing is honesty. Be honest with where you are right now. Take a minute and write it down. Not the location, but where you are in regards to the various important things in your life. Good and bad things all need to be written down. Once you realize where you are, you'll realize you have a LOT more to be thankful for than you thought.

So all you need is love...love yourself first, and then open your heart and let others love you too.

Phil Gerbyshak leads a team of IT help desk professionals in Milwaukee, WI, and finds that sharing his knowledge is a crucial component in his success as a leader and as a person. Phil's personal philosophy is paraphrased from Tim Sanders' fantastic book Love is the Killer App: "Share your knowledge, your network, and your love. The rest will follow." Read more of Phil's musings at http://makeitgreat.org

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Google News Updated : Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:51:58 GMT Swimmer’s Positive Test Puts Olympic Berth Doubt - New York Times New York Times Swimmer’s Positive Test Puts Olympic Berth Doubt New York Times - 30 minutes ago By KAREN CROUSE The swimmer Jessica Hardy has not been penalized for a doping offense despite published reports that she tested positive for a banned substance. Video: Source:Hardy Tests Positive for Banned Substance AssociatedPress Sequence doesn't make Sense Los Angeles Times Gay Wired - Palo Alto Online - The Wenatchee World Online - The Associated Press all 750 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:21:30 GMT Would UN Security Council Postpone Any Prosecution of Sudanese Leader? - Voice of America Voice of America Would UN Security Council Postpone Any Prosecution of Sudanese Leader? Voice of America - 1 hour ago By Joe De Capua As the International Criminal Court (ICC) considers whether to issue arrest warrants for Sudanese President al-Bashir, some are calling on the UN Security Council to block the action. Sudan's Beshir pledges peace as he leaves Darfur AFP Jordan's lower house opposes charges against Sudanese president Xinhua Hindu - Los Angeles Times - istockAnalyst.com - AllAfrica.com all 1,823 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:30:10 GMT South Texas begins cleanup after Hurricane Dolly - The Associated Press Calgary Herald South Texas begins cleanup after Hurricane Dolly The Associated Press - 30 minutes ago HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) - Residents across south Texas slogged through knee-deep muddy waters, tiptoed around downed power lines and dug through debris Thursday, but were thankful that Hurricane Dolly didn't pack the wallop they had feared. Video: Tropical Storm Dolly Causes Flood Worries AssociatedPress Dolly weakens, pushes inland USA Today East Valley Tribune - AHN - KIII TV3 - KVIA all 7,399 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:21:14 GMT Ford Has $8.7 Billion Loss, Shifts Away From Trucks (Update4) - Bloomberg Ford Has $8.7 Billion Loss, Shifts Away From Trucks (Update4) Bloomberg - 44 minutes ago By Bill Koenig July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the world's third- biggest automaker, posted a record quarterly loss of $8.7 billion and accelerated a conversion to fuel-efficient vehicles to wean itself from money-losing trucks. Ford's Worst Quarter Ever BusinessWeek Ford Posts Loss of $8.7 Billion on Asset Woes New York Times Forbes - CNNMoney.com - Reuters - Los Angeles Times all 1,181 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:07:48 GMT FOX News Poll: No Bounce for Obama From Overseas Trip - FOXNews ABC News FOX News Poll: No Bounce for Obama From Overseas Trip FOXNews - 27 minutes ago By Dana Blanton The significant news coverage Barack Obama is receiving on his foreign trip has not translated into a bounce in his numbers, a just-released FOX News poll shows. Wanted: 2 million poll workers for November The Associated Press Comment by Leonard Steinhorn Prof, School of Communication, American University New York Times - CNN - United Press International - PolitickerCA all 689 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:24:50 GMT Health Buzz: A $500 million Antismoking Campaign and Other Health News - U.S. News & World Report BBC News Health Buzz: A $500 million Antismoking Campaign and Other Health News U.S. News & World Report - 3 hours ago Billionaires Bill Gates and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced yesterday that they'll contribute a combined $500 million to a worldwide antismoking campaign, the New York Times reports. Video: Gates, Bloomberg Pool Riches to Fight Smoking AssociatedPress The $500 million war on smoking Minneapolis Star Tribune Reuters - Newsday - Economist - California Healthline all 639 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:43:30 GMT Arizona reports first West Nile death of 2008 - Bizjournals.com TheMedGuru Arizona reports first West Nile death of 2008 Bizjournals.com - 1 hour ago Arizona has reported its first death from the West Nile virus this year. It also is the first West Nile death in the US this year. First bird in Nassau tests positive for West Nile Newsday Fighting West Nile Alexandria Gazette Packet KTAR.com - AZFamily - FOXBusiness - Boston Globe all 231 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:45:00 GMT Get Paid for Surveys RSS Software

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