Don’t settle for a relationship that won’t let you be yourself.

Oprah

Want to know what makes the world go round? It’s love.

Whether it’s love for your partner, love for your kids, or love for your pets, love is what helps this world make any sense.

In addition, when you consider everything and anything you ever wanted in life, it all boils down to love.

In order to feel love, however,

we need to understand how we make sense of love.

Specifically, which of the five love languages do you speak (G. Chapman)?

  1. Words of Affirmation
  2. Acts of Service
  3. Receiving Gifts
  4. Quality Time
  5. Physical Touch

How do you know you’re loved?

Typically, the way you show love is the way you feel loved as well. What this means: as a child, if your mom showed you love by giving you quality time but your love language is words of affirmation, it’s very likely you didn’t feel loved very often.

Although learning which love language you and your loved ones speak is important, it’s also important to keep in mind that you can’t feel loved if you don’t first love yourself.

Self-love.

It’s your ability to put yourself first.

Your ability to fully understand that you’re valuable. And that you’re worth it.

If you have trouble with putting yourself first, or knowing in your heart that you’re absolutely worth all the love in this world, focus on just one thing in the next week:

Put one action step into your calendar each day.

Your action step will look different from the person to your left depending on what your own love language is.

If your love language is words of affirmation, every day, I want you to focus on saying kind, loving words to yourself – out loud, looking in the mirror (no matter how silly it sounds or looks!).

If your love language is acts of service, go out of your way to put your needs first – fill your own cup. For example, you can make yourself a cup of coffee and read for 30 minutes in the morning. All before you do anything else for anyone else.

If your love language is receiving gifts, go out and buy yourself something small every day. You don’t have to break the bank – something small like a pen that makes you want to write.

If your love language is quality time, block out one hour of each day to do nothing. Just sit with yourself – you can read, listen to music, or just sit in the tub with bubbles. Do something to fill that hour each and every day – do something you enjoy (maybe even nap!).

If your love language is physical touch, go get a massage. Ask your kids to give you a hug. Get physically intimate. Do something that gives you physical touch, each and every single day.

Show yourself love today.

Fill your cup first if you truly want to love others.

You can only rewire your brain to learn that you do love yourself, and that you’re capable of love, by engaging putting into motion things you want/do believe, now.

Live with intention. Lead with inspiration.