Love Yourself: The First Step to a Successful Relationship

When I realized that I needed to first take care of myself and stop using relationships to complete me, things changed in my life.

For me, no romantic relationship was going to fix the problems I had in feeling abandoned by my father. I needed to find out why I felt that way, how to overcome it, and then learn new skills to put into practice.

Ed: “I felt ashamed because I didn’t feel loved. Now I try to earn your love by anticipating your wants and needs. If you have to ask me to do something, I feel like a failure for not having noticed your need. If you tell me that you love me, I have to figure out something to do to deserve it.” New rule: I accept your love freely. I expect you to a

This approach is fundamentally different from the way we ordinarily relate to our parts. Usually when we become aware of a part (or a feeling or behavior pattern), the first thing we do is evaluate it. Is it good or bad for us? If we decide it is good, we embrace it and act from it. If we decide it is bad, we try to get rid of it. We tell it to go