ESSENTIAL TOOLS FOR THIS JOURNEY

So before we start here, I would like you to grab yourself a blank exercise book, which we will call your Self Love Journal from now, that you will use to answer the questions in this course. I recommend you do this in an actual book, with an actual pen, rather than on the screen. I find that when I write with pen and paper, it's easier to really focus on my thoughts because I don't have any distractions like the Internet to use when my mind wanders. So I really recommend you try doing this with a pen and paper. Ideally have one book dedicated to this course, which after you finish, you might want to continue with as you Self Love Journal going forward, where you can jot down ideas for loving yourself more when they come to you.

WHO ARE YOU?

So, that eternal question - the big one! Who are you?

Who is the YOU - what is it made up of? What is it like to be this you? Just answer what first comes to mind with each question.

• Are you your name?
• Are you your body?
• Are you your life experiences?
• Are you your past?
• Are you your mistakes?
• Are you your successes?
• Are you what your bank balance reflects?
• Are you your thoughts?
• Are you your emotions?
• Are you your beliefs?
• If you are none of these, then who are you?

Hmm.

I will let you ponder on those questions for a bit.

Write down these questions now in your Self Love Journal and answer them one by one. I'll meet you lower down on the page.

WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?

Next question - another biggie!

Where did you come from?

• Obvious answer is your mother's tummy! (well, that was your doorway yes) - but before that?

Where were you before you arrived?

• Do you remember where you were before you got here?
• And where will you go when you die?

Again, write your answers down in your Self Love Journal and I will meet you further down the page.

WHY DOES ANY OF THIS MATTER?

Well, before you can love yourself, you need to know who this self is that you are loving, right? So that we are not flying blind here.

You see, a big part of the problem with people who don't love themselves (which I would estimate is most people on the planet really) is that they believe that they ARE their name; where they came from; their thoughts; their emotions; their past mistakes; their failures; their character flaws (which if flipped might be their strengths!).

These erroneous beliefs cause identification with whatever that thing is - the career, the relationship, the possessions, the past, the thoughts, the feelings, and from identification comes attachment - this is MY job, MY, name, MY thoughts, MY feelings, MY sad past (which in itself is a story because nothing is that black and white), MY failures, MY scary emotions I don't know how to manage... etc. And suddenly the YOU that you are living in is actually a construction of all of these attachments. It's like you are living in a higgledy piggledy house, built on very shaky foundations (of identification with all these changing and temporary things) which is wonky like the leaning tower of Pisa. It might crash and fall at any time. So you are living inside your own construction, and you are looking out the windows of this wonky house. And maybe you want to get out in the nature and let go of this house that's nearly falling over, but you can't find the door. You are stuck upstairs in the living room looking out the window but you don't know how to leave the house.

The door will appear when you realize you are not any of these things.

And that's a good place to start our journey of self love and healing.

The next step in our journey is taking the Self Love Quiz.