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Imagine you’re building a house. Self-love is the foundation of the house – it helps keep it together and anchored. On the other hand, self-care is the maintenance of the house – it’s everything that keeps the house looking beautiful and polished such as repairs, mowing the lawn, decor, and painting the house. To simply put it, self-love is the foundation and self-care is the action that maintains self-love. Let’s explore Self-love vs self-care, the definition of self-love and self-care, what makes them different, how they work together, and actions you can take to incorporate them into your life.
What is Self-Love?
Self-love is the internal feeling of appreciation, acceptance, and respect for yourself. It is loving yourself with flaws and all. Self-love is showing yourself grace and compassion like you would a loved one.
What is Self-care?
Self-care is a practice that nourishes your body, mind, and soul. It is about maintaining your overall health and well-being.
Self-Love vs. Self-Care
1. Self-Love is a Mindset whereas, Self-Care is a Practice
Self-love consists of internal belief in how you view yourself. It is accepting yourself inwardly, showing yourself grace, and realizing your worth.
On the other hand, self-care is actions that nourish your emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.
2. Self-Love is Interior whereas, Self-Care is Exterior
Self-love is a feeling that comes from within. It’s how you perceive yourself, and becoming confident in who you are.
However, self-care consists of tangible practices that nourish your body, mind, and soul. For instance, exercising, eating healthier, or expanding your knowledge.
3. Self-Love is Life-Long whereas, Self-Care Short-Lived
Self-love requires constant evolution. Therefore, it is a long-term process of loving, appreciating, and accepting yourself. Self-love is a long-term process because it takes a lifetime to keep reflecting and growing as a person.
In contrast, self-care consists of daily activities that can change over time.
4. Self-Love Consist of Self-Acceptance whereas, Self-Care Consist of Self-Maintenance
Self-love requires accepting who you are while working to become the person you want to be.
However, self-care consists of the upkeep of your welfare.
5. Self-Love Involves Creating Boundaries whereas, Self-Care Involves Applying Them to Your Life
When you have self-love you tend to establish boundaries because you value yourself and know your worth.
On the other hand, self-care involves implementing those boundaries to protect your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. For instance, walking away from a toxic relationship, prioritizing yourself, and learning how to say “no” to things that don’t serve you.
6. Self-Love Determines Your Decisions whereas, Self-Care Supports Them
Self-love influences the choices you make. Whether it be choosing a partner, your career, or how you want to live. Moreover, when you love yourself, you tend to align your decisions with your values and morals.
However, self-care helps to support and sustain the choices you’ve made.
7. Self-Love Consist of Deep Emotional Work whereas, Self-Care Consist of Daily Habits
Self-love consists of you doing the inner work. It’s taking time to heal your wounds, love yourself through your insecurities, and be graceful towards yourself. Therefore, self-love takes emotional effort.
In contrast, self-care consists of daily rituals that help to maintain yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. For instance, going to therapy, indulging in skincare, or meditating.
8. Self-Love is the Foundation whereas, Self-Care is the Practice
Self-love is the center of how you carry yourself, view yourself, and value yourself.
On the other hand, self-love is taking action based on your self-love for yourself.
How Self-Love and Self-Care Go Hand in Hand
Although self-love and self-care aren’t the same thing, they work together. You can’t have one without the other; it’s like yin and yang. Here are some ways that self-love and self-care work together.
1. Self-Love Boosts Self-Care, and Self-Care Reinforces Self-Love
Self-love motivates self-care. Therefore, when you love yourself you automatically have the urge to care for yourself.
Also, doing self-care activities such as eating healthy, going to therapy, or journaling shows that you value yourself and find yourself worthy. Moreover, practicing self-care strengthens your self-love.
2. Self-Love Helps You to Choose the Right Self-Care Practices
Lacking self-love can cause you to indulge in the wrong self-care practices or even misuse them. For instance, compulsively buying things, binge-watching movies or series, or even avoiding your responsibilities because you’re ‘taking care of yourself’.
However, self-love helps you to take care of yourself properly and choose the necessary practices to do so.
3. Self-Care Strengthens Your Self-Worth which Reinforces Self-Love
Every time you take care of yourself, it sends a message to your brain that says ‘I am worthy’ and ‘I do love myself.’ Therefore, taking care of yourself builds self-love, self-worth, and self-confidence.
4. Self-Love Helps You to Set Boundaries, and Self-Care Helps You to Maintain Them
For instance, if you’re dealing with a toxic person or someone is trying to take advantage of your kindness because you love yourself, you would recognize the issue and implement boundaries by taking action to protect yourself.
5. Self-Love Cultivates Inner Healing, and Self-Care Supports the Journey
When you love yourself, you tend to heal your inner being. Moreover, self-care helps you to enact practices that’ll help you on your healing journey such as therapy, or having a healing journal.
6. Self-Love Promotes Self-Compassion, which Deepens Self-Care
Self-love teaches you how to show yourself compassion, kindness, and empathy whilst self-care is deepened through practices.
7. Self-Love Encourages Authenticity, and Self-Care Gives You the Energy to Stay True to Yourself
Having self-love allows you to stop seeking external validation from others and start seeking internal validation from yourself.
Self-care helps you to live authentically.
8. Self-Love Strengthens Your Emotional Resilience, and Self-Care Helps You Manage Stress
Self-love aids in building inner strength which causes you to handle challenges, setbacks, and failure easily.
Moreover, self-care helps strengthen your resilience by indulging in therapy, deep breathing exercises, or meditation.
9. Self-Love Removes Guilt from Self-Care
Sometimes we as women feel guilty for taking rest or breaks. However, when we have love for ourselves, it reminds us that it’s ok to rest or take breaks.
As a result, self-care becomes an act of self-respect and self-worthiness.
10. Self-Love Strengthens the Mind and Body Connection, and Boosts Self-Care
Self-love encourages you to be intuitive about your body and honor its needs.
In addition, self-care encourages you to take action. For instance, drinking more water, getting more sleep, or prioritizing fitness.
Ways to Implement Self-Love and Self-Care into Your Life
Self-Love:
- Practice Self-Compassion: Start speaking kindly to yourself, even when you’ve made mistakes.
- Challenge Negative Self-Talk: When you criticize yourself combat them with self-affirmations.
- Surround Yourself with Positivity: Be around people who uplift and inspire you.
- Set Boundaries: Protect yourself by putting boundaries in place.
- Celebrate Your Strengths: Instead of always focusing on your shortcomings, acknowledge your strengths and what makes you different, and celebrate them.
Self-Care:
- Make Time for Rest: Make sleep and rest a priority.
- Engage in Activities that Makes You Happy: You can try hobbies that make you happy and as an outlet to express yourself such as painting, dancing, pottery, etc.
- Nourish your Body: Eat healthy meals and keep yourself hydrated.
- Disconnect from Stressors: Take breaks from things that stress or drain you such as social media or your work.
Wrapping Things Up
Self-love is the cornerstone. It’s the way you view and value yourself internally. Whereas, self-care is the practices you perform to sustain self-love. Therefore, one can’t be present without the other. Moreover, they work hand in hand to ensure that you love, protect, respect, and value yourself to live a happier and much more fulfilling life.
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