The most difficult person to love is perhaps yourself. Realistically, it’s so easy to dislike yourself because you see flaws and failures first handed. Society today has painted a false image of what self-love is, but let’s talk about the harder aspect of self-love.

It’s the act of taking the initiative to complete yourself once and for all. And I’ll tell you one thing, this process is not easy. Yes, it a process. A long one. There’s really no end to it either. It’s something you must hold onto for the rest of your life. When you look in the mirror, you should be looking at the person you love and respect most on this earth.

To Senior Kelsie Trejo, self-love “looks like confidence and embracing something you never thought you would be comfortable showcasing. Also, finding happiness and recognizing your own worth.”

More than often, teens have insecurities that usually expand into a trait they hide from everyone. It then only becomes a matter of time where their self-love begins to disappear. Like Trejo said before, self-love is embracing qualities of yourself you find hard to love. Self-love is really about loving every piece of yourself.

“The hardest aspect would be realizing that you have to stop constantly pleasing others rather than putting yourself first. It’s so easy to look out and give, but at the end of the day, you’re stuck with yourself for life,” says Trejo.

Self-love can come from embracing your own qualities or doing things that shift your perspective about yourself and who you want to be. Prioritizing others over yourself to the point where it becomes exhausting is just self-disrespect. It’s not only about loving and accepting yourself for how you look or who you are. It’s respecting yourself enough to make others respect you.

“My first step to loving myself was to start complimenting myself, do things that make me feel good like my makeup, dressing up sometimes to make me feel cute, etc. It doesn’t have to be a huge change; small steps are important,” explains Trejo regarding the start of her self-love journey.

There are so many ways to love yourself. And truthfully, there are a million right ways to do it. Baby steps are still progress so do not get discouraged. Be patient with yourself as you are with others.