We've all seen the Disney movies. We've all cried along to the romantic comedies. We love them. And that's totally fine.

We vow to ourselves, in every relationship we enter, that we are going to be awesome. We're going to be that person that they can call at 2 am. We're going to be the girl that listens to them cry about whatever is upsetting them. We tell them that they are going to be fine and they can get through it. We call them at midnight on their birthday's and we buy them the best gifts. Materialistic and not, we do all we can for everyone else. We constantly strive for perfection. We strive to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.

That's totally fine.

Flash forward to the moments of our lives when we're by ourselves. We stay up until 2 am studying for a test. We cry on our bedroom floors because we're just so confused about life. We workout to build our self esteem. We skip dinners, and birthdays, and parties, and trips just to strive towards that perfection we're all looking for. In one shape or another, we've all done it and at the end of the day we throw ourselves into bed and do it the next day. Weeks go by and this keeps building up. Then, we're miserable.
I've observed this. I've lived this. Yet, I wonder why we let ourselves do this time and time again.

So, I've come up with a solution.

We need to spoil ourselves.

We need to treat ourselves the way we deserve to be treated. We do it to everybody else, why not do it to ourselves. We deserve it. That sense of entitlement for being awesome? We earned it. Maybe you're the girl taking 18 credits. Maybe you're the president of your school. Maybe you're the star athlete. Maybe you're the girl working two jobs. Maybe you're the lead in your play. Maybe you're the one who's just been feeling a little down. Maybe you're all of the above.
That's totally fine.

But we're wearing ourselves thin by pushing through each day without coming up for a breath of air. We put everybody else, everything else, first time and time again. We're afraid to be a little bit selfish. But that's the beauty of it. We're not being selfish. We're celebrating who we are and all we've done. We need to take time out of the day to respect ourselves. We're paying ourselves back for all of those nights we've stayed up too late and worked too hard. We're allowing yourself to rest. We're recognizing the fact that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to. We deserve to love ourselves. Now do it, because it's totally fine.

Love is the most important thing in this world. While it is important to love other people, it's also important to love ourselves. It's important to respect ourselves. It's important to celebrate and laugh at ourselves.

So next time you run everyday for a month straight, indulge in some new body wash.
End the semester with a 4.0? Buy that item you've been eyeing.
Aced that test? Go drive somewhere you've never been.
Spend all day cleaning? Get some yummy smelling candles.
Finished that 20 page paper you've been avoiding? Sleep in an extra hour on the weekend.
Did an amazing job on a class presentation? Earn an hour of guilt free reality tv watching.
Worked out extra hard in the gym today? Go to a mirror and say five things that you love about yourself.
No matter what you do, take at least ten minutes out of your day to breathe, relax, and feel. Do something everyday for yourself. It will boost your mood and relieve stress. It doesn't get better than that. Make it a goal every day to make yourself a priority.

It's not about being lazy or being selfish, it's about rewarding ourselves for all the super awesome things we do, the ones we far too often overlook. It's about throwing up our hands in celebration and saying "I'm awesome. I worked hard. I'm going to reward myself because I love myself."

And loving yourself is totally fine.


Infinite x's and o's,
Kylee