by Tiffany Blevins
Love Thy Neighbor as thyself. The Golden Rule is the basis for many well known religions and philosophies in which to live a better life. However a lot of people only remember the “love they neighbor part.” I find that being loving towards my neighbor is a lot easier than loving myself. If my neighbors cold, I can get them a jacket. If my neighbor is thirsty or hungry I can get them food and drink. How am I suppose to suppose to love myself though? I think a lot of people don’t know how to love themselves, especially while in college. Constantly pushing ourselves to succeed in our classes, trying desperately not to gain that “freshman” 15 ( Its hard to eat right and excercise all 4 years, sorry kiddos), going out late into the night even though we are exhausted, in order to maintain a social life and judging ourselves the highest penalties we can imagine for not meeting the goals we’ve set. There are lots of ways that if we were looking at someones else’s life, we’d more than likely tell them to slow down and everything would be okay. That they still matter and are important and will do better next time. One of the most loving things we can do for ourselves is to treat ourselves like we treat other people. This means things like not being so harsh, being forgiving, and encouraging to ourselves. The Golden Rule is a good motto to live by, but we can’t forget ourselves in that process.
