All Parts Matter - Journey to Self Love - The Deeper Dive

_{Truly loving yourself is the most important achievement to which you can aspire.}

It’s a process you go through by yourself and for yourself. You are choosing this process because without it, it is almost impossible to reach your full unique potential. Truly loving yourself is the foundation needed for your gifts of life to be opened. Achieving true love of self can lead to a greater spiritual awareness and understanding of the human’s connections to the universe.

My journey to self-love was piloted by a voice from within. It took me 12 years to reach it, encountering along the way the empowering benefits and insights which would otherwise have been lost to me had I not taken the journey. I discovered parts of me which were essential to completely “knowing myself”, the flaws, shadowy sides, and hidden as well as the strong, powerful and creative.  From there, I journeyed onward to learning to truly love myself by accepting all of me, the good, bad and ugly.

_{You can’t love yourself completely if you don’t know all of you or reject the parts you do know.}

I learned it is the taking of the journey (the process) that leads to knowing yourself, and it is continuing the process that leads to loving yourself. It’s like taking the back roads, with stops along the way to explore, that leads to knowing a country, instead of flying over it or taking the interstate.

You are more than the person you see in the mirror, you're the sum total of all your parts (physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral). These parts are unique to each person, formed by their DNA, thoughts, feelings, actions and experiences. All parts must be visited and explored to “know yourself.”

_{“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom” – Aristotle}

Knowing yourself is also the foundational step toward a meaningful life, emotional intelligence and rational decision-making. Without the journey (the process), it cannot be truly achieved. You can just accept who you are. Your journey will not be the same as mine, that is to be expected.

All journeys are not the same, though the destination is and the tools you need are. This series is about my journey and the tools I used along the way; tools that you will use, too.