The English language evolved over time and possessive words like me, mine, yours, ours no longer have alternate companions. We no longer say thee, thou, or thine. It seems so long ago. A distant forgotten time, but there was something beautiful about those words. They expressed something a me or mine cannot. It identified the intimacy of the relationship.

You didn’t replace thou. Each one existed at the same time and both complimented each other. When you were talking about a stranger or someone that was not close to you, the word you was used, but if the relationship was more meaningful and intimate, not necessarily in a sexual sense, just very close, the word thou would identify the intensity of the relationship.

How marvellous that language reflected not only who but to what degree they mattered, and perhaps a little something has been lost because we have forgotten that we had word companions.

Love yourself and love thyself seem to signify the same thing, but they do not.

Love yourself seems old and distant. We have heard it before and we have ignored it before. Love thyself on the other hand is much fresher because it connects ourselves to have a relationship with ourselves that is as old as the universe.

Why don’t people love themselves? Why do they question their own self worth and pass on their own greatness?

I wish I had answers to those questions. I am searching, because at times I am guilty of not being kind to myself. Thankfully its in words and not through substance abuse or even uglier ways, but the fact remains that we could all use a little more possessive love of ourselves.

Love thyself. 

Love thyself as though you were unique as the rarest gem and the most distant star. Love thyself that much because you certainly are. It’s not poetry either. Scientifically, you have never existed before. You are irreplaceable, and one day when you are gone, you will be greatly missed, because the world will never have another you.

Yes, we will have others but nobody like you and its a shame that sometimes we don’t respect each other for the great people that we are.

Loving thyself is not a selfish act. It is something very natural and the beginning of all relationships. It’s hard to like someone else or to imagine doing great things, if you think of yourself as a discarded turd, a mistake that is incapable of doing much in the world.

I think you’re great and we might have not even met, but that doesn’t mean that I cannot imagine who you are and what you are going to do with your life. There is a greatness that runs deep inside all of us. It is a greatness that is non negotiable. A greatness that cannot be destroyed, only neglected.

Today I challenge you to love yourself or love thyself, whichever one tickles your fancy. Don’t hide in the shadows any longer. Come out and play and let us see you for who you are, and marvel at the gifts you were given, and the ass kicking you we’re destined to do.

 

Cover photo generously provided by photographer Vonecia Carswell.

https://unsplash.com/@v_well