I deliberately choose a picture of myself for this post because the love letter that you need, that I need, that we all need to have on the books is the one we pen to ourselves.
Hallmark has helped us to mark February as the month of love. I say…bring it on…it starts with
YOU
!
Lean into love with a letter written to you, for you, and from you! The more comfortable you are with YOU, the more capacity you have to attract and accept others. If you want more love in your life, this is the letter you need to write, right NOW.
Here are a few guidelines to get you started. You control the results.
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Your letter can take many forms:
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A traditional note mailed to yourself
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An email that you write and send to yourself
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A series of notes that you strategically leave/pre-calendar to yourself
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A vision board that you do on the topic of defining love/self-love
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A journal of love that you start 2/1 and continue until 2/28 (or beyond)
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What to include:
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Forgiveness:
What are you willing to forgive yourself for doing or not doing? The very worst grudge you can hold is with yourself. Allow your letter to transport you to a place of forgiveness and acceptance. It is only in this space that you are free to move on. When you don’t accept you tolerate. When you tolerate there is anger and negativity involved. This is your life. Do you want to tolerate it or live it? Acceptance allows you to move ahead.
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Intuition & Inner Wisdom:
Connect to and listen to your intuition when you proclaim affection for yourself. What would you tell a good friend to do? Where can you turn up the volume on the whispers in your life? Then lean into your inner wisdom. This inner connection will reveal WHAT you most want and WHY you most want it. If you have both of those things then HOW you get what you most want will find you.
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Gratitude:
What makes you smile? Where are you genuinely happy about YOU? What are you most thankful for? Is it your tenacity, your family, your legacy, your health, your courage…? Gratitude is important to understand, especially as it relates to the single longest relationship you will ever have…your relationship with yourself. Gratitude allows you to see and live each day differently because it brings successes front and center and combats fear head on. Sprinkle in gratitude and forgiveness, intuition and love come alive.
Use the 100% rule when making note of your own worth. You are 100% of you at all times. If you exit a relationship or quit a job, you are still 100% of you. You are never a fraction in life. If you think of yourself as WHOLE, what does this enable you to do NOW? What is your worth from that perspective?
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The “magic” words
I love you
:
3-words, epic importance. It may seem easier to love someone else, but unless this is an emotion you experience with yourself you may not be able to fully experience it with someone else. Remember that these are only words. Your proof rests in what you will do with this love, how you will express this love for yourself every day. Your proof rests in how you define love. Your magic is not the words that you use, but the meaning and the action that results.
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Leadership:
This may seem like an odd thing to include in your love letter to yourself, yet think about it… you lead YOU. What type of leader do you want to be? How you navigate and integrate love into your life starts with your appreciation and understanding of yourself, your value and your ability to take action. Where will you allow love to lead?
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Before you send your letter to yourself or complete your journal do the following:
Draw a heart on a piece of paper. Then jot down the people and things that mean the most to you on that same page. Ask yourself the following questions:
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How big was the heart that you drew on that piece of paper? Was it small and reserved or big and welcoming?
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What words or important aspects of your life did you place on that page?
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Did your heart include you?
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What people and aspects of your life were placed inside this heart? What remained outside the heart?
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Where are you limiting love and where are you prepared to limit LESS?
Make sure to send your letter.
When you open it, read it out loud in front of a mirror.
Hear the echo of your words. Embrace the context of your thoughts.
Let this letter wrap you in a hug.
Refer to it often. Update it and resend it over time.
What is different for you now? What are you doing because you are worth it? Start every day with one commitment to yourself that says I love you!
Imagine 365 acts of kindness.
Loving yourself will expand your capacity to love.
What’s now and what is next?
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self-love and more!
