Love and Reducing Anxiety

It may sound cliche that love can make a person feel content and happy (even though it shouldn't be considered cliche). Love in the american culture is a dying philosophy. What is love? Love is difficult to describe, but most people understand it on some level. I would describe love as being the strongest emotional connection a person can have, and something that roots us in our formation of reality. In other words, without love, we are lost.

Many people dislike love. When they hear about it, they ignore the ideas associated with it or even attack them. I believe one of the reasons this nation (and the world in general) is so psychologically unbalanced is because of the lack of love. Love is an emotional need for sure, and I believe it starts at home, with the self. Sadly, in our culture, we are taught to hate ourselves much more than love.

So how can a person love themselves? It's not something that is instant, it takes time. Loving is an activity. One of the best ways--in my opinion--to love, is positive affirmations. Repeating a positive affirmation over and over, trying to feel the idea, is a great way to create a sense of well-being (people often, unknowingly or not, repeat negative affirmations to themselves on a regular basis).

The affirmations can be something simple like...

"I love myself.."

Repeated with our inner voice. If you notice a bunch of thoughts come up to contradict the idea of self-love, this is normal. In fact, if the affirmation isn't believable, then this is a sure sign that you don't love yourself (making you a perfect candidate for positive affirmations). No matter who you are, or how you perceive yourself, you should always love yourself. Love is unconditional. A mother doesn't love her child because it looks a certain way, gets high enough grades, etc. Love yourself today and make it a habit. Love starts at home.

Another beautiful thing about love is that it allows people to perceive reality in a much clearer way. If you love a person, you see them in much higher detail. If you hate yourself, you will ignore yourself. Awareness is key when it comes to reducing anxiety. Fear is a state of ignoring (desire to 'escape').