If you don’t love yourself, who will?
Self-love is an essential element for living a positively present life, and self-respect is a vital aspect of self-love. Self-love means that you accept yourself fully, treat yourself with kindness and respect, and nurture your growth and well-being.
You have to learn to love yourself first, instead of loving the idea of other people loving you. The best battle in life is simply the battle to acknowledge, grasp and love ourselves, with the entirety of our imperfections.
Strive to be 100% honest about what our identity is, how we feel, and what we need. Work to stop criticizing ourselves for all that we aren't, and start giving ourselves acknowledgment for all that we are. What's more, it's important to know that not every person we love will agree with us at all times, and be OK with that.
We have to learn to be our own best friend because sometimes we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemy. We love the idea of others loving us, and we forget to love ourselves.
We need to eliminate the mental barriers that work against us. Once we're able to push through these barriers – to know and grasp ourselves, regardless of our humanness and our defects – we likewise open the pathways to interfacing in all the more mindful and empathetic ways with those around us.