--Oprah Winfrey
One of the ways to love yourself is to consciously recognize your accomplishments, no matter how small. I've learned to do this relative to cleaning house. I dislike doing it so much that I have to at least give myself a mental pat on the back for anything I do along those lines. So in the spirit of giving myself some recognition, this past Friday I completed 100 miles of lap swimming in 2020, and I have now done that for 23 years in a row. And yes, I'm a numbers nerd, and I keep track of my laps in a spreadsheet. I am grateful for the self-discipline, for my body, and for my family support and encouragement.
Loving yourself is not necessarily an easy prospect in a society that seems to always be pointing out what's wrong with us. Being an addict, and seeing how rampant addiction is in our society, I know that non-recovering addicts tend toward self-loathing, so there's not much love to extend to others. It took a 12-Step program and learning a successful way of living for me to begin to develop a sense of appreciation for myself. That was the beginning of being able to extend genuine love to others.
I do believe that people are good, and there is plenty of love in our world. Each of us, each day, extending love to someone does make a difference. It's a matter of staying focused on what we want more of, and who doesn't want more love in our world? Love is our very essence, so let it flow, shall we?
Leta
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