My Favourite Love Story

We grew up reading books and watching movies about perfect love stories, but nobody told us the real one might start with ourselves.

Learning how to love myself wasn’t something that happened overnight. Somewhere between going through difficult seasons and learning what I truly need, I discovered a version of myself that I actually enjoy being around. There is something so special about realizing your life can feel warm without validation from anyone else. It’s the moment you stop waiting to be chosen and start choosing yourself. I started giving myself the things I kept waiting to receive from the world: patience, consistency, reassurance and understanding. Once I started doing that, everything softened. Something in me shifted and confidence followed in it’s own way.

As I grew into this new chapter, something else surprised me- my life started to feel full in ways I never expected. Not because everything was perfect, but because I began noticing the parts of my world that support me. The routines that calm me. The people that bring light without asking for anything in return. The dreams I used to downplay that suddenly feel possible again. Everything is different now. Not louder or busier but fuller. There is a sense of possibility in my days, the kind that reminds me that hope isn’t naive, it’s necessary.

The stronger the relationship with myself became, the more capable I felt of loving others in a healthier way. It has reshaped the way I show up in every connection. It made me realize that self-love is far from the end of the story; it’s the foundation. What I see most clearly is this: loving myself doesn’t make me any harder to love. It makes me better at it-more honest, more balanced, and much more open.

And maybe that’s part of why this has become my favourite love story- it’s the one that stregthens every other chapter that comes after it.

-F.