Diary of a Semi-Health Nut

ramblings + recipes of a semi-healthy nut

{Thursday Thoughts} All You Need is LOVE

by

Hello Friends!

Okay, we all know you need a liiiittle more than love in life, but stay with me here, because it’s February after all.   

The month of LOVE.

Last February I was inspired to do Love Yourself February series because of all of the “fitspiration” pins I was seeing all over pinterest with flawless, toned, skinny, scantily clad women with captions (that my friends had put on the pin) like “must look like this” or “I need her abs” or “diet time!” 

It breaks my heart when people pick at their bodies and try to live up to something that is literally unattainable…because those pictures we are seeing are different people!  Thus, impossible to strive for a body that is not our own.  End fitspo rant.

I want to focus again this month on loving ourselves because it is SO IMPORTANT.  It’s something that I am constantly working on, whether it’s underestimating my brains and abilities or scowling in the mirror at my blotchy skin or crazy hair.

For some people, that is not the issue.  They might have more of an issue of loving and accepting others.

So I want this challenge to include both aspects so that we can choose which one we need to focus on (or if you’re like me, you might consider doing both!).

With the idea that it takes 21 days to create a habit, I challenge you to choose either loving yourself or loving others purposefully (or both!) for 21 days straight.  If you start tomorrow, February 8th, it will bring you right to the end of the month where I would love to share stories of how you loved yourself purposefully or made it a point to love others. (You can e-mail me your story or link-up a post to share!)

I will also be posting in this genre throughout the month and if you have any ideas or a guest post you’d like to share on this theme, let me know!

I’m not an expert by any means, but I have definitely learned some things about love in my life that I’d love to share.

What does loving YOURSELF look like?

  • Loving your body.  Every single part of it.
  • Loving your brain.
  • Loving your personality.
  • Letting yourself eat.
  • Choosing healthy foods to fuel the body you love.
  • Choosing to exercise to promote a healthier life for yourself.
  • Doing something that makes you truly happy.
  • Associating with positive people.
  • Treating yourself.  Whatever that looks like for you.
  • Taking time for prayer, reading the bible and/or meditation.
  • Turning negative self-talk to positive self-love.
  • Learning to place value in who you are as a person and what you bring to the table.  We are all uniquely made and truly have something special to offer the world.

What does loving OTHERS look like?

  • Being open and accepting of everyone.
  • Seeing the good in all people.
  • Praying for people who rub you the wrong way.
  • Intentionally doing a kind deed for someone (bonus if they don’t know it was you who did it).
  • Encouraging fellow workers/students/bloggers.
  • Sitting with that new person at the office/school at lunch.
  • Complimenting someone. 
  • Being polite and respectful to those in the service or retail industry.
  • Sending a note of encouragement or thanks to someone you interact with on a regular basis.
  • Using positive words to talk about others.
  • Turning negative, judgmental, petty thoughts into positive thoughts of love towards that person.

You can share with the community on Facebook, Twitter-using the hashtag #LoveChallenge or the comments below or in any of the Love Challenge posts.

I will come back to this post and link the February Love Challenge posts so they are all in one place.  Just in case you need to check them out later.

We all go through times of doubting ourselves or others, but let’s try to focus on the good and LOVE shall we?
*~Amanda aka Semi-Health Nut~*

What do you think, are you in?  I want your feedback on this!!

Posts from last year’s Love Yourself February challenge:

Love Yourself February
Dream Physique guest post: Tina Reale from Best Body Fitness
You are Beautiful
Love Yourself guest post: Lindsay Wright from Lindsay’s List
Happy Eating

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Comments

  1. I’ve been mulling over this for awhile now, actually. In all of this ‘healthy living’ are we actually doing ourselves a disservice? We might be physically healthy, but what about MENTALLY?

    LOVE the idea. I hope I can love myself (and others) a little more this month. 🙂

  2. I’ve been mulling over this for awhile now, actually. In all of this ‘healthy living’ are we actually doing ourselves a disservice? We might be physically healthy, but what about MENTALLY?

    LOVE the idea. I hope I can love myself (and others) a little more this month. 🙂

  4. am all about healthy living, spiritually, and all aspects. So to do what you proposed, I commit to take a healthy meal to a friend who just had knee surgery. That way her husband who will be busy lifting her, bathing her, etc, will have one thing taken care of–their meals for the day!

  5. am all about healthy living, spiritually, and all aspects. So to do what you proposed, I commit to take a healthy meal to a friend who just had knee surgery. That way her husband who will be busy lifting her, bathing her, etc, will have one thing taken care of–their meals for the day!