Finding Love Within: A Path to Self-Love

In a world that often prioritizes external relationships, this episode reminds us of the importance of loving ourselves unconditionally. From practical self-care routines to setting boundaries and celebrating achievements, we delve into various practices that nurture self-love.

Discover the benefits of mindfulness, engaging in hobbies, practicing gratitude, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle on our journey towards self-love. We also explore the power of forgiveness and the significance of surrounding ourselves with positivity.

This episode is packed with actionable tips, personal experiences, and heartfelt insights to inspire and guide you in embracing self-love.

Thanks so much for listening!

Connect with me:
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charlotte@charlotteedwardscoaching.com
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@Charlotte Padgett Edwards
Website: https://charlotteedwardscoaching.com 


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Transcript

Samson Q2U Microphone 0:42

Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me today. february is full of love and hearts. And. Valentine's day. And most of the focus is. On your relationships, your family, your partner, your spouse. And I think sometimes we forget that the most important love. And that's really the love of ourselves. Our self-love. And I'm not discrediting, loving your family, your partner, your spouse, your child, That is. True love, unconditional love, but. Sometimes the hardest relationship is to truly love yourself. And. That. Is the most important because when you truly love yourself, It trickles and ripples into all your other relationships. You know, we've all had days where we're not happy with ourself and then we can be. You know, Short tempered, grumpy and. Peter, we typically take it out on. More than likely it's the people closest to us. It's our, our spouse, our family, So how can we. Really love ourselves. And. What does that love even really mean? You know, when you look into the mirror. At yourself. Are you fully loving all the parts of you? The good bad. I mean. I hate to say ugly, but you know, The graying hair. Maybe. A new wrinkle, maybe the little. Extra cushion that you have. When you look in that mirror. Do you see love looking back at you? Or are you looking at. All of your. Imperfections. And when we just focus on our imperfections and the negative aspects of. I have to do better. I don't like the way I look, you know, um, this needs to change. It just perpetuates. This negative. Self-talk. And it isn't helping us. Love ourselves better so that we can give love freely to everybody else. I think sometimes it's easier to give love. To everybody else. I mean, I know myself, I'm a mom and I'm a nurse. By the nature of my roles. I am. Be constant. The caregiver. I'm giving to my family, my husband and my patients, you know? That's kind of how I was designed in these roles and, you know, sometimes. I have to stop. And realize I've really put myself on the back burner and I can, I can feel it in my mood. I can see it in my body and realize that I need a reset. I need to, Stop giving and giving and giving because. I'm becoming very depleted. And you can't give from an empty cup., how can we learn to love ourselves? How can we put the same effort into ourselves? That we put into other people. How do we practice? Self-love. What is self-love. What does self love mean to you? So let's explore some ideas. Let's figure out ways that you can practice. Self-love. Self-love is mindfulness. It could be. It's simple as. quiet cup of coffee. Before your house gets up. Have a chance just to. Be quiet with your thoughts. Have some peace. Before the day. Gets a little crazy and you're pulled in a million directions. And focus on your breath. Ever tried meditating. Maybe just do a five minute meditation. Maybe. Uh, devotional prayer. And just start your morning with a sense of peace and calm. That's just for you.

Samson Q2U Microphone-5 5:23

Self-love is self-care routines. Sometimes we can just rush through them. Whether it's at nightly. Skincare routine. I'll be the first timid. Sometimes I quickly just. White my makeup off and jump it bed. Goodness gracious. Sometimes I just roll right in bed with my makeup on. Um, But. Taking that extra few minutes. To take care of yourself to take care of your skin, to take the good shower, not the. I'm just going to jump in and jump out because I've got a million places to be. And we all know we have it. We all know that there's various levels of showers. Take the good long shower. Take the hot shower. Shave your legs. You know, Put a shower bomb in take these extra few minutes. For yourself. Because in the grand scheme of things, What is an extra five, 10 minutes. That can either start your day off right. Or end it right.

Samson Q2U Microphone-6 6:35

Self-love is setting boundaries., We can pull it in semi need. Uh, different directions and we want to do all the things and accept the invitations. With our friends, our families, our job. And maybe even sometimes it's for our kids. They want to do an additional extracurricular activity. But they're young and that involves. You. Set some boundaries. Talk to your kids. Tell them that they can pick one activity. This will make your life a little better, a little easier. And your family life, not as scattered. You're not constantly running around. And in a state of. Overwhelmed. And sometimes for your own personal wellbeing. You have to say, no, maybe you have to free up some of your commitments. In your social engagements. Because you realize that you need that quiet space. To reset. To renew. Because it's not good for our nervous system. To constantly be firing and also on all cylinders. We need. That a healthy balance, that healthy balance and our commitments, our relationships. So we're not constantly. On the go. And overstimulated. Self-love. Is engaging. And hobbies. Something that you like to do, something that you're passionate about. It's easy to kind of get caught up in. What your family. Likes to do because of course you enjoy spending time with your family. Like my husband and son loves soccer. And of course when my son was little, I love watching him play soccer. And on the weekends, we would watch. The English premier league and. I enjoy spending that time with them. But as the years have gone on, Why am I watching all this soccer? Like I enjoy spending time with them, but I just don't need it. Incessantly watch soccer and, um, I really. Realize that. I enjoyed soccer because I enjoyed watching my son play soccer, but I don't enjoy. Watching. Soccer on the weekends. I can just let that be something that they do together. And. Find a hobby that I enjoy for myself. I'm not saying that hanging out with family isn't important, but it's very important to find something that brings you personal joy and fulfillment. So, whether it's going for a run, riding a bike, maybe it's curling up with a good book. We're being creative and drawing, painting, getting into photography. Learning how to cook or make sourdough. I love to plant. To be outside in my yard. Digging in the dirt. I, it brings me a lot of joy. Daydreaming. About what I'm going to plant this spring and walking through the nursery and. Sing it all come together. sometimes it's trying something new. I also have this fantasy that I want to be an artist and I'm not very artistic. So I ordered one of those paint by numbers. And pounded and, um, and painted a mountain range scape, and it was something fun to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon. I just got out my. Paint by numbers. It was relaxing in a nice way to decompress in very enjoyable. Find something that's meaningful for you. That's a great outlet. There's so many different activities out there that can take a little bit of time. Or a lot of time, but they can bring you a lot of joy and fulfillment. Self-love is practicing gratitude. I'm a big fan of practicing gratitude. I get up every morning. And write and a gratitude journal. By keeping a journal where you can. You know, Jot and write down things that you're grateful for each day. It really helps you to reflect. On the positive aspects in your life. and then that can shift. Your focus. And foster a more. Optimistic mindset. We're not going to always. Have a positive attitude. Life is full of seasons. Some seasons are full of abundance and joy. And it's easy. To write the things that you're grateful for. And sometimes. It's hard. And so when we're in that. Tough time when we're in this season, that's weighing on us. And it's hard to find the joy. It's even more imperative to practice gratitude. And it doesn't have to be anything. Super fancy. Sometimes people love to go. You know, Bye. Nice journals. Um, I mean, I just use a regular composition book. Now old school supplies. But. I get up every morning and I write down 10 things that I'm grateful for. When you're in that tough season. It can be hard to look in the mirror. And love ourselves. Instead, we're just focusing on all the parts that. We want to change or improve. And so that's when we really. Need to Focus on. The body that you're grateful for. The body that carried your children. Your heart that's beating. And keeping you alive. The body that's fighting cancer. The things that you like about yourself, Maybe it said you like your smile. I'm grateful for my smile. I'm grateful for my hair. I'm grateful for. My legs that get me from place to place. And then move into. You're home. I'm grateful for my home that provides security and comfort. Even that job that we may not like, I'm grateful for my job because. It provides my paycheck. And gives me money to support my family. And then that can help us shift our mindset. Because even in tough seasons, And it's really hard to find the joy. We do still have blessings. And it might just be as simple that we're alive today. I encourage you to. Let's start a gratitude practice. write five, 10 things. That you're grateful for. If you're a morning person, do it in the morning. If it's a way for you to reflect on your day. Do your eight before you go to sleep. And just see. What a difference. It will start making.

Samson Q2U Microphone-16 13:49

Self-love is a healthy lifestyle. Typically, we put our health and wellbeing on the back burner to everybody else, but taking the time. To invest in our own health and wellbeing. It's the best gift we can give to ourselves and to our families. This is the example of put the oxygen mask on yourself. Before your loved ones. It's imperative that we're healthy. So that we can enjoy time with our families Participate in activities can live long lives. And be there for our partner, our kids, our parents. well, Can get off track and engage in bad habits. So whether you just start by. Planning nutritious meals or having a regular exercise routine. Maybe it's. Getting a good night's sleep and putting your phone down and stopping the mindless, scrolling on social media. A restful and restorative night's sleep. It's so important for your physical. Mental and emotional wellbeing. Sometimes you just have to start small. To go for a walk, get outside. Take a Google class. Go for a run. Walk your dogs. Ride bikes with your kids. Maybe it's picking up an apple or some almonds. As you walk out the door. Small pattern. Small habits can lead to big changes because once we started feeling better, It motivates us to do better. Self-love is forgiveness. We need to learn. To forgive ourselves because you know what, we're not going to get it right all the time. We're not, you know, Life is just. A constant. Learning experience. Some days we're going to feel on top of the world. We are wonder women. We hit all of the things we. Slept. Well, we got the kids out on time. Everyone's getting along. We ate healthy. We actually went for a walk. We've got all our to-do list done. And then the next day. It can throw you back a couple of notches. And so. Learning to. Forgive herself that it's just a day. Tomorrow's a new day and a fresh start. He is a powerful act of self-love. You know, it allows for you. To grow of where. You fell short. Maybe there's room for improvement, but then. It also can be healing. Because maybe you have to forgive. Uh, person. A friend. A family member that. You've had a grudge again, you've held resentment. And learning to let go that you can't change somebody else's behavior. You're only control of your behavior and how you react. And so forgiveness. Whether it's for yourself or for somebody else. Is a powerful act of self-love because. All of those burdens, just weigh on us. Weigh on yourself, weigh on your heart, weigh on your soul. And. That's not something that you need to be carrying it. Into each and every day. Self-love is celebrating achievements. As we talk about forgiveness, I think we also need to celebrate our achievements. Can be very easy at downplaying. The great things that we do. It's not harder to. Compliment yourself. Whether it's finishing a project work. Or achieving a personal goal. It's important to acknowledge that and celebrate that win. Maybe you want to treat yourself. To something special. Or just give yourself a pat on the back. A lot of times. We're quickly to dismiss. The accomplishments that we've achieved and move on to the next one. Let your light shine. Rejoice in your achievement. Big or small. You worked hard for that. It's time to celebrate you. Self-love is surrounding yourself with positivity. Sometimes. Loving yourself can be difficult. It's important to cultivate those relationships. Friendships. That uplift you. And support you. So if you're in a funk or having a bad day, you have that friend or family member that you can call. For a meaningful conversation that will cheer you up. Maybe they have a great insight or a funny story. That will make you laugh. It will give you that boost that will get you going. It's choosing to spend your time with people. Who. Lifts you up and make positive contributions to your life. And distancing yourself. From those. Relationships that drain your energy. Who create drama, who bring negativity that drain the life out of you? There's no time. Life's too short. For toxic relationships and drama, it just weighs on your. Mental and emotional wellbeing. So find your tribe. Find your people that. When it's hard to love yourself. They will wrap you. And their love. Until you can find your own. Self-love is. Positive affirmations. Start your day by turning. Your limiting beliefs. And to affirmations. Affirming things like. I am capable. I am strong. I'm healthy. And just repeat them throughout the day. To reinforce. The positive beliefs about yourself. Maybe it's. I am love. Maybe it's I'm a good mother. I'm a good wife. Depending on what season you're in, in your life. You can alter your affirmations. By finding just a handful that you can get up in the morning. And create a practice. To reinforce these beliefs about yourself. We'll start. Changing the way that you see yourself and. Kind of squashing, those limiting beliefs that you have about yourself.

Samson Q2U Microphone-41 21:13

I hope you found these helpful. And maybe there are some new habits or practices that you can implement in your life. As we continue into February and there's hearts and love all over the place. I encourage you to take care of your own heart, your own soul. And practice loving yourself. Be your own Valentine. Take time for yourself today, whether it's to sit in peace, read a book, maybe rock out to your favorite song. Give yourself a hug. Or buy yourself some flowers. My wish for you. Is that when you wake up tomorrow morning and you look in the mirror, You see a person looking back at you. That's full of love. Full of light and has so much possibility.

Charlotte 22:03

I appreciate you spending this time with me until next time, keep sowing the seeds of love in your life and those around you.