As young adults, we are constantly pressured to find “The One” and as you get closer and closer to graduating college and finding a career. Most family members do not let you forget how single you are and how bare your ring finger is. They remind you as if you have not gotten your fifth wedding announcement and Facebook isn’t blowing up with notifications from your high school friends, who are now all engaged and beginning their own little families. You don’t have to wait for prince charming to come and sweep you off of your feet, you can sweep yourself off of your own feet. Unfortunately, many people settle for the first person that comes along, even if they don’t treat them like the princess that they want to be treated like. When dating you are the one that sets the standards of how you will be treated and what you will accept from your significant other. If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t force it.
Take Yourself on Dates
For instance, if there is a new place in town and you’ve been dying to try it, go! Get dressed up, do your make up, and if anyone asks who you are looking good for; simply reply “Myself!” You don’t need someone to walk with you through your entire life. Go for a stroll downtown, go to your favorite restaurant just because you think you deserve a night out, go to the park and have a picnic while reading a new book. Try something new, try something different and try something that pushes you out of your comfort zone.
Give Yourself Compliments
You are your biggest critic, no one judges you as harshly as you judge yourself. I can’t count the amount of times I look at a mirror each day and I judge myself; so instead of dwelling on the things you hate about yourself, celebrate the things you love about yourself. You are already thinking to yourself in your head, you control whether or not those thoughts are positive or negative. So contour your face and wing those eye until they are ready to fly off of your face if you want, or walk out of the house with a bare face with every freckle and scar showing. Your opinion is the only one that matters.
Fall in Love with Yourself
Learning to love yourself is one of the most difficult but liberating things one can do. Fall in love with how your voice sounds on recordings, and how you snort a little when you laugh too hard. Learn to love the scars from your past because they have ultimately made you the person you are at this very moment. Love yourself through every season life throws at you, every obstacle, every setback and every moment to celebrate. As RuPual says “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell can you expect to love somebody else.”
HCXO!