To Love Myself

To truly love myself- this I resolve To guard with zeal my tenderness of heart Of every sin and doubt myself absolve And fortify and strengthen every part To cherish and accept the inner me To know and relish every single dream The woman that I am, to set her free To put aside each hindrance to love’s theme I do resolve to be my dearest friend To celebrate the wonders that I own To spend time in my world and not pretend To shine around the goodness I’ve been shown A short time have I left to truly shine And thus I vow to make my living fine Entered For Regina's New Year's Resolutions Contest On December 16, 2014 Learning to love myself has not been an easy task for me. Oh, it was easy when I was younger....perhaps I was overconfident then. Now, I have my good days and my bad days...days when self-loathing sets in and I find it hard to want to go on. I have learned...the hard way, that if you don't care for and cherish yourself, if you don't guard your dreams, if you don't look out for yourself, then no one will. It's a fact of life. You need to be confident and secure in who you are and what you have to offer. No matter how many times people tell you you are beautiful, no matter how often people tell you you are talented, no matter how many words are written in your praise, if you do not love yourself, you are unable to accept and believe and hope in the reality of these words. I'm not there yet, but I don't have much time to put this love into action. A healthy love of self is necessary. Christ said, "Love your neighbor...AS YOURSELF: (as you love yourself). I wish I had learned this sooner. I try to instill it in my daughter....this belief in oneself. I'm so glad that she is a confident, beautiful, and self-possessed woman. I can live on through her. Thank you all for your kindness to me. Thank you for loving me, when I've been difficult to love. May God bless you one and all. HUGS