"Love Yourself.."

Over-thinking. A phrase usually associated with stress, confusion and uncertainty. It's such a shame that the beauty of the human mind has been related to such a negative connotation. Why is over-thinking even an issue? When did it become an issue? Well whatever the answers to those questions may be, I hope by the end of this piece I will be able to persuade you to see things in a more positive light.

Life, as we are all well aware of, comes with its many ups and downs. We as humans deal with so many personal factors in our life spans (family, friends and growth) that the added weight of society's problems can at times overwhelm us. I'm in my mid-20s, so I've experienced the teenage years and I'm currently going through the period of adolescence in which I am "finding" myself.

It has been a wonderful journey so far, I must admit, made easy with the change of perspectives in the way I over-think. My interpretation of over-thinking is to use the mental free time available in our minds to stimulate thoughts beyond our normal capacity. With this view, instead of spending valuable mental free time worrying about an upcoming deadline, social circle breakdowns and/or job security, why not big yourself up for all the things that are good about you?

I'm not saying disregard the natural life problems most of us go through, what I am saying is to take time out to love and appreciate yourself. We are living in an ever-growing narcissistic world, it is easy to see those that embrace that as cocky, arrogant, show off, smug, brash.. I could go on, but why must that be a bad thing. Why should you not be boastful that you are capable of looking a certain way, acting a certain way or just being a certain way?

We as individuals find it so easy to put ourselves down, yet so difficult to praise ourselves. With so many mental health issues apparent in the world right now, the tranquil blue seas of the Earth now seem so grey and dull. I feel it's time we start to put ourselves first. You're probably used to hearing someone say "look in the mirror and tell yourself you are beautiful" so I say scrap that, it clearly doesn't work for everyone so my suggestion, if you are interested, is to replace the usual thinking and daily activities you would do with something new and exciting. Do something which is best for YOU!

Listen to a different type of music, go to a shopping centre you have never been to before, tell somebody else that they are beautiful and see how that resonates within yourself. Most importantly, replace the usual negative thinking you are used to doing with something more positive. Think about all your achievements to date and how far you have grown as an individual. Reward yourself with an ice cream (everyone loves ice cream) at the end of each day. Start to take care of yourself mentally. Love yourself, even if you feel as though you love yourself enough, you can go even further.

The idea of this is to change the way we look and think about things in an alternate way. There is never going to be one answer for every problem, so why not work on YOUR mind in the best way for YOU! Every detail of the human mind is absolutely amazing, it's up to us as the carriers to use it to its fullest potential. Over thinking is not a problem, just always remember to love yourself.

Embrace life. Love life. Live life.