There's a quote which is always floating around the world wide web which says something along the lines of "If you don't love yourself, how can you expect anyone else to love you?" A lot of people share this and seem to believe it to be true, however, I disagree. As an advocate for self love, I believe everyone deserves to feel happy within themselves and to love who they are, regardless of the opinions of those around them. Other people's attitudes towards you should, in no way, impact how you see yourself. I also believe, no matter how much of a negative perception you have of yourself, someone else will always love you for who you are.
So, in this post I wanted to share with you ten reasons why you should love yourself. No, it isn't conceited to want to love yourself, you aren't big-headed if you're proud of your appearance, you aren't a snob if you love your life. Everyone deserves to feel like they are able to love themselves in the same way that they love others, because you are no different. Why should you not feel loved in the same way as others? What makes you different? Exactly.

1. You are the only person who is going to be in your life forever. You are born with you, you live with you and you die with you. Other people will come and go, but, ultimately, there's only one person who is going to be there through all the ups and downs, and that is yourself, so if you have to spend so much time with yourself, surely, you should love yourself? You may as well.

2. You've got nothing to lose by loving yourself, only lots to gain. Self love won't make you unhappy, if anything, it will make your life happier, so, why don't you just give it a try?

3. Loving yourself opens so many doors and leads to a lifetime of positivity. Once you learn to love yourself, you will find that everything else around you will just fall into place, even the things you once thought could never be fixed. Loving yourself leads to a carefree lifestyle as you aren't constantly consumed with so many dark thoughts of self hatred.

4. Other people love you, so why not see what they see? If so many people in your life can find it so incredibly easy to fill a hole in their lives with you and can so easily want to love you and want you to be happy, why would you not want that for yourself? Start looking for the things that everyone else sees because the negatives you see in yourself are only seen by you.

5. Life is too short to hate yourself. I know the phrase 'You only live once' has become quite the cliche, but it couldn't be more true. Don't waste your precious time with a heart full of so much hatred towards yourself, it really isn't worth it. Instead, love yourself and you will then be able to look back on your days in a better light and will be able to feel proud of the fact that you lived your life the right way. Feeling negative about yourself only leads to sadness.

6. Following on from that, hating yourself gets you nowhere. It won't make you happier, it won't solve world hunger, cure diseases or prevent war but, hey, maybe if you start loving yourself and live a happier life, you could do those things yourself!

7. Loving yourself is totally in right now. Haven't you heard? So many people are jumping on the bandwagon so you don't want to be the odd one out now, do you? As the days go by, more people are having epiphany moments and realising how important it is to have a positive self identity and so many people are reaching the end of their self love journey, so why not join them? The world is full of positive people, so be one yourself. There are a lot of celebrity role models out there if you're looking for people who are proud of who they are.

8. Speaking of role models, by loving yourself and not feeling ashamed of the fact that you're in love with yourself, you are setting a positive example for others to follow. Positive energy is infectious and so those around you will soon pick it up and will want to love themselves too. Who doesn't want to live in a happy bubble full of happy people who love themselves? Simply by changing your way of thinking, you can change someone else's life. Sometimes, all it takes is for a person in a dark place to see someone else feeling confident within themselves and, all of a sudden, their whole outlook on life changes.

9. There really are no reasons not to love yourself. You know all of those false perceptions you have of yourself? About how horrid your appearance is? You're a nasty person? No one likes you? They are all lies. No one else around you sees those things and there really isn't anything negative about you. Those things you think are flaws are just a part of who you are. There is nothing wrong with you and there is no reason why you shouldn't feel worthy of self love. Believe me when I say that there are a million and one reasons why you deserve to fall in love with yourself a thousand times over on a daily basis.