The Greatest Love of All

As I drove to work this morning I was listening to a medley of Whitney Houston songs that WBLS was playing as a tribute to her extraordinary musical career. I sang every song loud and off key as if I was performing at my very own private and personal tribute to Whitney. After all many of her songs could be played as the soundtrack for my teenage to adult life. Then the “Greatest Love of All” came on. Now I must have sang this song hundreds of times throughout the years but for some reason this morning the verse “learning to love your self is the greatest love of all” had a new meaning for me. Self-love IS the greatest love of all but it is also the most difficult form of love to give. Many of us struggle with self-love because we think it would be viewed as self-centered, vain or just selfish. But I believe in order for us to receive the kind of love that we deserve from others we first must learn how to fall in love with ourselves. If you can't love yourself how in the world can you expect others to really fall in love with you?

When I was younger I had a very warped view of what I deserved from a relationship. In fact most times I never really thought about what I deserved. I knew I wanted to make the other person happy and never really gave much thought into what made me happy. Now I know that self-love is the foundation of all loves and without it any relationship that we are in will be an unequal one. In my marriage my husband and I have no problem catering to each others needs because we both have a strong sense of respect and confidence in ourselves and for one other.

So what does self-love mean to you? Does it mean you love yourself enough to take care of your mind, body and soul by any means necessary? Does it mean you put your needs first even if sometimes.... just sometimes the needs of others have to go on back burner? Does it mean you let others know how you deserve to be treated and you refuse to settle for less?

Ladies, this Valentine's Day why not give yourself a gift...the gift of the greatest love of all....love of self. I promise you will not be disappointed!

"And if by chance that special place that you've been dreaming of leads you to a lonely place find your strength in love!"

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!