In my experience I have found the greatest love I have had in my life has been the joy of learning to accept myself as I am.

Love is an interesting concept. No one love should be considered greater than another. Yet, even though it comes in various different forms, it seems as though romantic love has taken its place at the top of many people’s lists.

It’s understandable. Wanting affection and attention from another human being is normal. But for me, romance isn’t everything. Maybe it’s because I’ve never experienced it, but I don’t always completely understand why people want it so badly.

It may sound selfish, but maybe that’s why the person that I love the most, or the person I wish I could love the most is myself.

This isn’t because I believe that a person needs to love themselves in order to love others. I know it’s not that simple.

In love, I know I can be confident in knowing that I will always love myself whole-heartedly. To admire myself and think of myself as beautiful by taking notice of the little details that make up who I am.

In today’s society some people would think this way of thinking is selfish, and it is, but being selfish isn’t always a bad thing. Putting your own happiness before others is hard, when people constantly criticize you when you put your own needs before theirs.

But it isn’t easy. Self-love, much like all other kinds of love, is difficult. When you love another person it can be easy to ignore an annoying habit that they have, but with self-love you have to live with yourself forever. There’s no ignoring your flaws or pretending that they don’t exist.

The struggle is knowing that the flaws are there and learning to be comfortable with them. To embrace the fact that you even if you are a weirdo who is strangely obsessed with watching animated movies while in college, you’re still the same lovable person who likes coffee and lasagna.

Some may say it’s conceited or cheesy to say that I love myself more than anybody else, but it’s not often people say that they love themselves. My love for myself doesn’t neglect my love for others and it doesn’t mean that I’m better than anyone else. It means I’ve learned, and will continue to learn, to accept myself as the person I am despite my quirks and imperfections.