Greatest Love

I've been tagged by fellow blogger Mae

To whom or what you give your greatest LOVE and why?

It should go without saying that I love my children and grandchildren, unconditionally.
I also love my boyfriend and his son unconditionally.

But my greatest love? Well, that is for myself. This is not narcissistic.

A few years ago I was in an emotionally/verbally abusive marriage. From my ex, I learned that I was a worthless human being. I learned not to stand up for myself, I learned that I wasn't capable of doing anything right no matter how hard I tried.

With the help of my online friends, that I have mentioned in another post on my blog,
I slowly came to realize that I wasn't worthless and useless. I began to love myself and I was able to break away from the abuse.

I have learned that if you can't love yourself you can't truly love another, or truly be loved by another.

I have learned that to love yourself you must forgive yourself for the past. You can't forgive others if you can't forgive yourself.

I have learned that to love yourself you must accept yourself for who you are. Once you do that you are more able to change those faults or habits that you may not be comfortable with, because now you have accepted that they are a part of you.

I have learned not to let anyone bully me, because I am just as important as the next person.

I know that I am not perfect, and I know that I do not have to be perfect to be worth being loved by another.

I have learned that when you love yourself you don't need an outside influence or another person to make you happy because you can find happiness within.

So my greatest love goes to myself and it is the source of the love I feel for everyone else and everything else that I love.