Valentine’s day, the celebration of love, and the pressure is on…

Impressing “the” loved one, having no one to cherish and being cherished by, or being in an unhappy relationship… All around us the expectation seems for all of us to be besotted couples staring at each other in the eyes and “lovers’ day” can feel like a pretty miserable day.

But there is no need to despair or even rebel against the celebration of love because the most important person in your life is you and you deserve it the most.

Oh but, what about your family, faithful friends, children, beloved? Far from the perception that cherishing yourself is self centered or self-indulgent, loving and appreciating yourself will only make you a better lover, partner, companion, parent and friend. Love is not a finite entity. Au contraire, the more we nurture our ability to love the more there is to go around.

Why is self love so difficult? The challenge is that we usually think of love in terms of giving and receiving always in acts involving another person. At best self love feels selfish, at worse, like a burden, one more thing to “work on”. Shouldn’t love be something you receive? Why should we be in charge of being loved as well?

Doesn’t the validation of being lovable have to come from outside of you? Does it? I say not. Self-love is not an act of effort but rather a way of being, treating with ourselves with kindness and without judgement. Self-love means giving ourselves the permission to matter.

I won’t give you a long list of to dos, but simply the permission to let go, treat yourself well, forgive yourself, be kind to yourself, love and cherish yourself every day.

You deserve it

You are enough.

Happy Valentine’s day! Love.

Valerie Orsoni
Your “LeBootCamp Diet” Coach