How do I love myself? Every keeps saying that..but how?

Yes, the phrase "to love oneself" is obscure and of questionable value used in a discussion site specific to those of us suffering unmanageable lives due to our addiction to love. Have you made an absolute commitment to pursue and support your emotional health? Do you make only choices that support your emotional health? Do you do everything possible to take care of yourself, 24/7? That is my criteria of 'loving oneself'. Be well.

put your happiness before worrying to make others happy. Sounds easy but hard to do especially we are all taught to be more caring about others. And those of us that care too much often get hurt because rest of the world don't give a rats ass but themselves. practice make yourself happy first.

I came across a statement that stuck out to me, Is it love or codependency? I think "good question" because if we are called to love and the very meaning of love is to be self-less and the defintion of codependency is to put others happiness first....I am really quite confused. It's a contriction, but I know there has to be a balance with it all somewhere. It's finding it that I struggle with, I too would like to know how to love one's self while continuing to love others?

Regrettably, i suspect there are no short cuts in the process to learn the answer to your question. I asked the very same question when I was awakened to my life-long codependent patterns, 36 long months ago; "is it love or is it codependency?" I have worked my butt off every day; weekly CODA meetings, individual therapy, countless hours of reading and reflection, plus a daily journal chronicling my recovery process. I recently reached my tipping point, and now am crystal clear of the answer. I can testify that my newly acquired serenity is unprecedented, and extraordinarily beautiful. My life has now changed in a profound way. I find I am grieving the death of the Jerry up to this point, as I have sixty years of memories, all captured through the distorted lens of codependent patterns. I am blessed with a future of unimaginable beauty, the product of 36 months of unwavering commitment. I wish you well in your personal quest for emotional health.

To love yourself is self-discovery. I remeber when I too use to hate when my boyfriend would say, "love your self" or "go take care of yourself." It actually use to make me mad because I wanted to yell I do love myself but in all actuallity I didn't know what it meant.
To love yourself is know what you like to do and do it. You do what you like to do alone or with others. That is also easier said then done if you don't know what you like to do. This is where the self-discovery comes it. What I did is joined soccer, and then unjoined because I discovered I didn't like it. I joined the gym and tried spin class and I loved that so now when I go I tell myself, "Thank you for loving yourself by taking yourself to spin class. I go to motivational speaker meetings that I find by word of mouth and I love those so I try to find more of them. And I speak at speaker meetings to help other like myself and I have found that I love that so I make sure to do it once a month. When I find something that I enjoy I can feel my spirit inside of my body kicking to say, "This is good." I must remember not to lean on rest on my laurels but to keep on the road of self-discovery, as God intended for me to enjoy life abundantly. Now when things are not going good I know that I can go to a spin class and to see a motivational speaker or to speak and by doing this I am loving myself for this day.

I found that doing things that make me feel good without the worry of what others think helps m to love myself. It is so hard to think this way...try training your brain...like write down 15 things that are good about u, or what u feel u deserve in life, and wake up each morning and read them, this helps me stay motivated, focused, and self respected. use deep breathing techniques when u fee yoursef 'giving it up for another person' and focus on your hapiness...hope this helps!

Thank you all for your suggestions and thoughts...I will do my best to truly love myself and love being in my own company.