How to Love Yourself

Like I mentioned in one of my previous episodes, the importance of self-love cannot be overstressed. If you miss it, you’ll become either depressed and self-loathing, or emotionally and spiritually dependent on others. In this episode however, I want to show you a quick and easy way to develop self-love.

In a separate video titled “How to cultivate compassion”, I explained that the key to authentic compassion is to remember that the other person will eventually die. I gave you a visualization exercise called the “Eyes of Death”, where I asked you to imagine how you would treat a dying person. Then I called your attention to the fact that everybody around you is dying, so you should treat everybody accordingly.

In this episode, I’m asking you to take this exercise even further, and apply it to yourself. Remember that you will die, and that you can die in any moment. Treat yourself with the same respect, love and compassion as you would treat a dying person, because you’re not an exception. You will also die like everybody else, and the world will suffer a great loss.

Perhaps you don’t value yourself that much, but that’s just because you compare yourself to others. But how could a comparison be made when everybody is unique? When you contemplate your own death, you also realize how unique, original and special you are. The less of something exists, the more valuable it is. And there exists only one of you, you are beyond rarity, you are extraordinary.

Perhaps you don’t even value life itself that much, but that’s just because you never think about its end. You try to forget about your own mortality, and that’s exactly how you devalue life. Life is valuable exactly because it ends, or at least you experience it only momentarily from your personal perspective. When you contemplate how short life really is, it instantly becomes more precious in your eyes.

So it’s not only that you are valuable, life itself is valuable, as well. And when we put the two together, your life becomes infinitely valuable, at least if you truly grasp what I’m speaking about. But to truly grasp it, you have to experience it. And to experience it, you have to practice it. For this, please turn to my other video titled “Death awareness – the ultimate spiritual practice”.

If, after practicing the Eyes of Death technique on yourself for a while, you’re still not convinced, consider this question: Do you wish to die hating your own guts, or rather in peace with yourself?

And remember: you may not have the luxury of making peace with yourself on your deathbed, your death can be sudden and unexpected. And anyway, why wait until the end, why not love yourself right now? Your love towards yourself has the biggest impact upon the quality of your whole life. Why waste your life fighting with yourself, when death will defeat you anyway?

So from now on, whenever you look into the mirror, I want you to appreciate the person looking back at you, because it may be the last time ever you see him or her. Don’t let anybody persuade you not to love yourself, because loving yourself is in your power, and nobody can take it away from you, only if you let it. Just love yourself!

If you want to know more about death from a spiritual but down to earth perspective, you should read my book: The Power of Death. Click on the link below, and get it now! I’m deadly serious.

Memento Mori!