Love Yourself

As the tears flow from my friend's eyes, because she feels she is not good enough, I tell her she is more beautiful than all the stars, and that she needs to love herself.

As my mother comes home from work, her eyes heavy with the stresses of the world, I tell her she is the strongest person I know, and tat she needs to love herself.

As the people around me fall apart, as the weight of the universe threatens to crush them befre my eyes, I try to hold them up with my own two hands, and I tell them to love themselves.

Who is going to tell me?

As the tears fell from my face, and I felt myself beginning to crumble from the weight of world, who told me that I had to love myself? 

As I have grown, as I have matured, as I have watched the world change and distort before my very eyes, I have learned that no one is going to tell me what I need to hear. 

I need to love myself.

As I crticize my flaws, scrutinize my mistakes, I now realize that I need to be totally and completely in love with all of them

As people come and go, as the world morphs and deteriorates, there must be one constant, one everpresent notion to keep me sane.

That I love myself. 

Everyone needs to learn this lesson, but I will not be the one to tell you.

Love yourself. 

I know I do.