The Best Kind Of Love

As they say, love is all sorts of complicated. A lot of people would tell you, self-love is the best kind – yet, it’s hard to achieve that ‘self-love’ we’ve been taught to have. Most women today are often subjected to all kinds of pressure, from the society, media, community, and even from themselves. Now, how do we achieve self-love again?

“It’s the first thing you need!” as I’ve been told by almost all of my friends. “It makes you whole!” as I’ve read from articles all over the web. But, never did I think of, “It has always been within.” partly because of low self-esteem. I was always thinking too much, of things that wouldn’t matter years from now. Slowly getting brainwashed by the society’s standards of beautiful, equating to more self-love. I couldn’t get out, because I was sucked in already. I was made to believe that in order to have that self-love, I needed to be the most beautiful as I can be.

There’s truly no harm in wanting to be more beautiful, but it all starts from feeling that you are indeed beautiful. It should come from the right mindset, and not because you’re begging for acceptance. It must never be from the self-loathing, and trying to fit in to the people around you. The best version of yourself should be a collaborative effort of your heart and mind. A version that has an optimistic outlook in life, and a driving force filled with passion to reach your dreams.

Now, I’ve realized that self-love isn’t hard to find. You don’t look for it elsewhere, more so in strangers. The best kind of love isn’t the romantic type, or the love for family and friends. It’s also not the love you have for your significant other, and definitely not the ‘love’ for your one-night stand. It’s not the romanticized love that is often depicted on movies; when boy saves a damsel in distress, or a heartbroken girl meets a man that will change her life forever. Remember that, ‘happy ever after’ was only meant for books, and love in reality is the game changer.

The best kind of love is the one you find while soul searching; the kind that takes time to be discovered and nurtured properly. It’s the kind of love that fuels you day in and out, but is still just right. It’s the kind that makes you love yourself more each day. It’s the kind of love that feels right, and makes you look forward to another day.

The best kind of love is always found within.