In actuality, you should love yourself all year round (because, let’s face it, you are pretty awesome). But the upcoming holiday should provide extra motivation. Whatever your relationship status this Valentines Day, the relationship that you have with yourself is the most important. It’s hard to expect somebody else to love you if you don’t even love yourself. And if you fully recognize your worth, there is a good chance that someone else will too. Here are some small things you can do to show yourself a little love.
1. Watch your favorite show on Netflix
Never underestimate the power of your favorite TV show to provide comfort, laughter and a better mood. Grab a blanket and some snacks, forget all the problems in your own life and focus on the ones taking place in your favorite fictional world.
2. For every thing you don’t like about your appearance, force yourself to come up with something you do
Every morning before we leave our dorm rooms, we look in the mirror. But spending too much time picking apart your appearance is a really unhealthy and negative way to begin a new day. If you catch yourself doing this, force yourself to come up with one thing that you do like about the way you look for each thing you don’t. For example, I wish I didn’t have such pale skin, but I love my natural hair color and have gotten tons of compliments on it. Easier said than done, I know. But if you keep focusing on the positives, the negatives might become just a little less noticeable.
3. Stop living in the past
Force yourself to stop dwelling over what you could have/should have/would have done differently…because it’s over. It is impossible to be living a full life in the present if part of you is still living in the past. So, do yourself a favor and stop stalking the guy online that you knew in ninth grade and make the most of the current day. Go join a new club, talk to some new people or daydream about your post-college goals. If someone or something is meant to be in your life, it will come back to you. But until then, the past can be toxic so leave it alone.
4. Get more sleep
You deserve more than to be going through your days struggling to stay awake. Make an effort to get things done in any free time you have during the day so that you can get to sleep at a decent hour. Set an 11:00pm deadline for accomplishing things and push whatever doesn’t meet it to the next day. Believe it or not, your health is more important than that history paper.
5. Read some quotes
I’m one of those people who enjoys spending large spans of time reading inspirational and cute quotes online. But I don’t think this is necessarily time wasted. If you’re having a bad day or are upset about something, quotes remind you that you are not the only one who feels the way you do and that things have a way of working themselves out.
6. Create an uplifting playlist
I love a good Adele song as much as the next person, but sometimes we don’t need lyrics that are going to trigger unwanted emotions or memories. Go through the songs on your phone and make a new playlist that meets the criteria of being upbeat and empowering. Listening to these songs will likely leave you feeling much better about yourself.
7. Surround yourself with people who contribute to your happiness
If someone is taking away from your happiness more than they are adding to it, let them go. Life is too short to spend time on people or things that are not benefiting you. Find people who make you happy, simple as that.
8. Perform random acts of kindness
We all feel better about ourselves when we do nice things for others. Commit yourself to performing one random act of kindness per day. It could be something as small as holding a door open for someone or as big as paying for a drink for the person behind you in line at Dunkin. You love the outfit that the girl sitting in front of you in English is wearing? Tell her. You think that guy’s math presentation was A+ worthy? Let him know. You’ll probably make their day and you might just end up gaining a new friend in the process.
9. Go shopping
I am not saying go on a bank account draining shopping spree, but there is nothing wrong with taking advantage of some online sales every once in a while (Forever 21 has them pretty much constantly). Especially if you have a job, reward yourself for all of your hard work with a cute new item or two to add to your closet.
10. Laugh as much as you can
Who doesn’t love that feeling of being unable to stop laughing?! Unless of course, this happens during class when you randomly remember something that happened months ago and everyone looks at you like you’re crazy (guilty). Well, there is actually science behind why laughing feels so great. Neurotransmitters called endorphins are released when you smile and these endorphins make you happier and lower your stress level. So, watch something funny, hang out with people who have good senses of humor and just laugh without holding back!