The blank page mocked me, pristine and unforgiving. Write a love letter to yourself, they said.

Easy, right?

Dead wrong.

I remember that day vividly. My friend, battling her own demons, had asked me to join her in this exercise.

“We’ll do it together,” she’d said.

I agreed without hesitation, thinking I was just being supportive. I didn’t realize I was about to face my own Everest.

Pen in hand, I froze. My mind, usually a whirlwind of words, fell silent.

How do you love someone you’ve spent a lifetime criticizing?

Minutes crawled by. The page remained stubbornly blank while my friend’s pen scratched away in the background.

Shame crept in, hot and heavy, as I realized the magnitude of what I was facing.

This wasn’t just writer’s block. It was a void where self-love should be.

I thought of all the love letters I’d written to others. The flowery words, the heartfelt compliments. Why couldn’t I offer myself the same grace?

Loving myself. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? But it’s not bubble baths and positive affirmations. It’s looking your demons in the eye and choosing to embrace them. It’s peeling back layers of self-loathing, one painful strip at a time.

So I started small. “Dear self,” I wrote, hand shaking. Two words. A beginning.

Some days, I win small battles. I silence the voice that says I’m not enough. I celebrate my quirks instead of hiding them. But other days? I’m right back where I started, staring at that blank page, drowning in self-doubt.

Why is this so hard? Because it means admitting we’re worthy of love, just as we are.

And that’s terrifying.

But here’s the truth I’m learning: self-love isn’t a destination. It’s a practice. A daily choice to be kind to yourself, to forgive your mistakes, to honor your journey.

I’m not there yet. Some days, I’m not even close. But I’m climbing. And from here, the view is starting to change. I’m catching glimpses of a person I might actually like. Hell, maybe even love.

So I keep writing, one kind word at a time. Because loving myself? It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And the most important.

This Everest of personal goals? I’m still at base camp. But I’m gearing up for the climb of my life. Because the hardest goal I’ve ever set? It might just be the one that saves me.

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