how to love yourself

I am born, I live, I die. This is my destiny.

I dream big.

I love hard. I am grateful for everything I have, and I try to make the best out of every situation.

Love is in the air. You can feel it everywhere you go. It’s the excitement of a new relationship, the comfort of a long-term love, or the love between friends and family. It’s what makes us human.

Without love, life would be meaningless. We all need love in our lives, whether we realize it or not. Love is what makes us happy, sad, angry, scared, and everything in between. It’s what drives us to do great things and motivates us to be better people.

I was born to love. It’s in my DNA. I come from a long line of lovers. My parents are still madly in love after 30 years of marriage. My grandparents were married for over 50 years before my grandfather passed away. And love is the only thing that has ever truly mattered to me.

I have always been a romantic. As a child, I would make up stories about falling in love and getting married. I was obsessed with weddings and dreamed of having my own one day. I even had a specific type of man in mind I wanted to marry. He was tall, dark and handsome, with an accent (preferably British).

I was a very shy child. Growing up, I was usually too afraid to talk to anyone I didn’t know. But somehow, when I was alone, I found a way to express myself. I would write little stories and poems about love and romance. They were just silly, childish things, but they always made me feel better. And somehow, I always knew that one day, I would grow up to be a writer. Maybe that’s why I like to write so much.

I wanted to get married. I wanted to have kids. I wanted to experience love in its most pure form. And I was determined to find my soulmate.

As I got older, my love stories became more complex. They were about heartbreak and betrayal, pain and loss. But through it all, love always won in the end. Because I truly believe that love is the most powerful force in the world.

And then, one day, I met him. The man of my dreams. We got married young, and we were happy. But then, life happens.

We started having problems. Little things at first, but they quickly spiraled out of control. We stopped talking, we stopped communicating.

I was hurt. I was angry. And I felt betrayed. How could he do this to me? We had it all. We had the perfect life. Why did he throw it away?

I lost him. I lost myself. I was broken. I was lost. I didn’t know who I was anymore.

But then, I realized something. Love is worth fighting for. It’s worth sacrificing for.

And it is my destiny. To love and be loved.

If we can give ourselves love, we can then extend that love to others. Love is something we cannot live without. It is at the core of our being. We need love to survive. Love gives us hope. It gives us faith. It gives us the strength to carry on. When we love, we no longer feel alone.

Sometimes we lose touch with ourselves. We lose sight of our true selves. We lose our identity. We get so caught up in pleasing others that we forget about our own needs. We lose our sense of self-worth. We become lost, confused and unhappy. So how do we find ourselves again? How do we get our sense of self back? How do we remember who we are? How do we become whole again? How do we find happiness?

The answer is love. When we love ourselves, we rediscover our true selves. We become whole again. We find happiness. And from there, love can then flow freely to others, as well.

So go out there and love yourself first. You are worthy of love just as you are. Let love be your guide on this journey of life – the greatest adventure of all. Love will lead you home to yourself once again.

This is my love story, and I am Kalyee Srithnam – a woman who has found her way back to love and happiness through self-love and acceptance. Through love, anything is possible!

Xoxo,

Kalyee

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Kalyee Srithnam is a 24-year-old writer, columnist, sometime-model and erudite chocolate fiend, who loves unicorns and writing content that helps people feel seen. Her column appears each Monday and Thursday. Follow her on Twitter.