Loving Yourself

It can be a hard struggle to learn to love yourself. The journey can last for years and you can fall from the path many times. I have have to say, after I got away from being a fundamentalist Christian, and went on my own spiritual path, life got a lot better and it did not take long to learn how to love who I am. The church I was part of before then, was very damaging to me as a person. I was filled with guilt and shame for no valid reason other than the teachings of my church. The path to acceptance came naturally to me and came rather quickly. Yet I've seen people go for decades not being able to break free from the harm that has been dealt them. Therapy is a good option for some, but to be honest, was of no use to me at all. I learned my path on my own terms and I found it to be a lot better way to do it, than to be in therapy. I do honestly think it helped a lot for me to have been a nudist from an early age and to not have shame for my own body other than when I was in that church. Reaching out in a spiritual manner can also help a lot and being on a pagan path was just what I needed to do. To be honest there are Christian churches that are NOT damaging to people in this manner and that are very supportive of personal growth and acceptance of just who you are - even if that included being LGBTQ. But that was not an option for me in this city at the time - it is however an option now and many I know have turned to that path. My best advice is to look in the mirror each morning and tell yourself you are worthy of love just the way you are.