Love yourself

For a long time now I have believed that love must begin with yourself: you must first love yourself before you can truly love another. For loving yourself means that you know, and more importantly accept, everything about yourself. And when you know and accept yourself then you can give yourself to another, truly and wholly. Because loving another demands that you submit yourself to the care and keeping of another. True love then requires that your submission be genuine, and this genuineness can only come from submission to, and therefore love of, yourself. Come to love yourself first and love for others will naturally follow.