Pause for just a second and take a deep breath.

Now read the following statement and really take it in.

You are worthy of love.

What happens inside when you read that statement?

Does your heart open up and do you breathe a sigh of relief?

Or do you cringe inside and immediately dismiss it?

Can you relate to this?

You’re certainly not alone if you shut down or dismiss those words. Millions of people feel they are unworthy of love.

The question is why?

Not only are you hurting and limiting yourself, but you’re also depriving others of the gift of your love.

Let’s take a moment to see how this might show up in your life.

To avoid the pain of rejection or feeling unloved, you work hard to maintain friendships. Since you’ve seen that it is possible to get rejected or feel unwanted, even by friends, you might work harder and harder to feel loved.

To succeed, you have to be sure everything you do is acceptable to others. This determines what you say, how you act, what you do and how you dress.

Then, one day you call a friend to go see a movie, and they say they’re busy. You may be hurt by that and think they really don’t care about you or wonder if you did something wrong.

Why would you experience doubt or pain because a friend said they couldn’t go to the movie today?

It’s because of a belief you have buried deep inside.

Have you ever asked yourself these questions?

Do I believe that I deserve to receive unconditional love?

Do I believe that I am worthy of that kind of love?

Be honest with yourself.

If the answers are ‘no,’ question where those beliefs came from.

Are they true? Where’s the evidence?

Most of the time, you’ll find there is no supporting evidence; you’ve just been operating on autopilot because it’s part of your conditioning.

If they are not true, begin replacing the old beliefs with beliefs that serve you. One way to do that is to use affirmations like Sandy discussed last week.

You can use some of the affirmations Sandy shared or make up a few of your own. Look in the mirror and declare that you ARE worthy. You DO deserve to receive all the love and goodness that you desire. Repeat them over and over again—with feeling!

It may be uncomfortable going through this process at first. It might even be painful. However, freeing yourself from these negative, limiting beliefs is well worth any temporary discomfort.

Don’t wait until the time is right

Lean in because I want to tell you something that’s important for you to hear and understand.

You are a good person who is worthy of love right now… even if you make mistakes and are not perfect.

You might think that something about you has to change for you to be worthy of love. Like when you make more money… are not so shy… lose weight… your spouse forgives you … the list could go on and on.

That’s like saying: When I am perfect, I will be worthy of love. Until then, I don’t really deserve it.

That will never happen.

Learn to differentiate between your “self” and your behavior. “You” are not ruined or worthless because you made a mistake or got off course.

You don’t need to change anything about your “self” to be worthy of love. You just need to change the image you have of yourself.

It’s not what you think

Changing your self-image means changing your mental picture, your conception of who you are.

Right now, your “self” is what it has always been, and all that it can or will ever be. You did not create it, and you cannot change it.

You can, however, realize it, and make the most of what it already is by gaining a true mental picture of your actual self.

In other words, changing your self-image is not about self-transformation; it’s about self-realization and self-revelation.

We are better, wiser, stronger, more competent right now than we realize. Creating a better self-image does not create new abilities, talents, gifts or powers—it releases and utilizes them. The results that follow are nothing short of amazing.

Love is like the sun

Love is everywhere. It’s all around you, and it has been shining on you all along—you just couldn’t see it.

You’ll be able to see and feel it—even bask in it—when you remove the clouds of unworthiness that have been blocking the light from coming in.

So, make a decision to look through the eyes of love each day, realizing that you are worth investing time and energy into. Be mindful of and grateful for all the love that is around you and always looking for a way to come in.

Each time you feel love, say to yourself, “I have this love because I deserve it.”

Pretty soon you’ll start to believe it and begin to feel worthier. Not because anything about you changed, but because you decided to let love in.

To your success,

Bob Proctor