Loving Yourself at the Expense of Personal Growth

We as a civilization have become more accepting and tolerant of most things in our day-to-day lives. We have finally reached a point where no matter the size, color, nationality, or culture, we not only accept them for what they are, but also teach the youth to love themselves for what they are. However, all of this self-love has led to another unforeseen downfall. There are a few people who, through their self-love, choose to halt their own personal growth. What I mean is, they choose to settle into a rut and think that loving that rut is self-love. This cannot be further from the truth. While there is nothing wrong with not wanting more out of your life and enjoying what you have, there is definitely a problem with suffering in the shallow pool of a dead life just because you “accept” what you are. For example, the TLC reality craze of showcasing obese people in all their glory. It is okay to be overweight, but there is something wrong with thinking that you are overweight, will always be overweight, and then gaining more weight. Another great example is people who have a disability, whether physical or mental, and choose to use that as an excuse for everything that is wrong with their life. This sort of situation really comes to a head when they expect to be catered to at every moment in their life. “I can’t do so and so because I am autistic.” “I can’t be here or there because I have a prosthetic.” They “accept” their flaws and then make everyone think twice about them because of the flaws. The really bad “self-love with no growth occurrences” happen when people are actually mean because they “love themselves at all expenses.” For example, the people who rip someone apart because they got their pronouns wrong. I think self-love only works if you are loving to most other things as well. Because how can you give love of any kind, especially to yourself, if you do not know love from other people. Newsflash, just because you love yourself to death, doesn’t mean that most other people would not love to see you dead. We can all grow and make ourselves better every day while also still enjoying who we are and what we are no matter the size, color, nationality, or culture. In fact, we can love that we are constantly working on ourselves so that we can make society the greatest possible simply by existing and progressing a little each day. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.