I was wrong.

A few years ago, I was interviewed by someone from New Zealand about self-love and self-care.

At this point in my life I was well and truly in my self-care era and was preaching from the rooftops to anyone who would listen.

During the podcast, I shared the story of how I became so enlightened. 😅

I talked about the medical specialist that I met with to talk about my debilitating migraines, and how she told me that I needed to love myself.

I later reflected on her words and understood them to mean that I needed to take better care of myself.

So I did, and it worked, the migraines went away and my life improved significantly. 

Huzzah!

Plot twist: last week (some 4 years after our first meeting) I met with the same medical specialist again and asked her about it.

“By loving myself do you mean, self-care?”

“No.”
*quiet panic sets in*

“Ok, what do you mean then..?”

She then proceeds to tell me a story about her dog, and the feeling of unconditional love that wells up inside her when she thinks of him.

‘That’s what you need to feel for yourself’ she said.

*quiet panic sets in again*

“ok, well, I feel like I could say that I feel a deep appreciation for myself at times, but I don’t think I could say I have the feeling that you’re describing.”

Later on, she recommended a book to me which I purchased and am half way through reading. [The writing is average, but the message is solid.]

So there you have it.

Self-love is not self-care.

BUT self-care is certainly a great place to start.

Lessons:

1.     One way you can tell someone is on another level to you is that they recommend impactful books to you that you have never heard of. These are the kinds of books that will change you, if you let them. If you’re always the one doing the recommending, consider expanding your connections to include some people who are several, if not more, steps ahead of you.  

2.     Even incorrectly interpreting the right guidance can have a net positive impact on your life and produce some great results for you. And sometimes, you’re not ready for the right version anyway.