Written by Gay Hendricks, co-author of Hearts In Harmony, Ten Second Miracle, Learn To Love Yourself, and Attract Genuine Love.
Why Constantly Complaining About How Others Treat You Could Be A Sign Of A Much Deeper Truth... About Yourself.
Have you ever felt rejected when a friend or loved one didn't call you back, canceled plans on you or dismissed your ideas?
Maybe you accused them of being rude and uncaring.
And in response, they told you that you're too critical, never satisfied or always complaining about something.
If this is a chronic problem for you, there could be a good reason why...
It happens because we tend to demand from others what we are most unwilling to give ourselves.
We seek love, respect, and acceptance from others and feel disappointed when they do not provide the kind we want.
When we seek love without giving it to ourselves first, we will never be satisfied with what we get.
We'll wonder if our partner really loves us, constantly looking for signs they're losing interest, even if we are married and even if they regularly tell us, "I love you."
Even when they buy us flowers or expensive gifts, we'll think they're doing it because they "have to" or we'll become suspicious they're cheating. We'll wonder what they want from us instead of just taking it at face value.
No matter how the love we get is expressed - whether by diamonds or passionate declarations - if it is not matched by our own regard for ourselves it will ultimately make matters worse.
We doubt, nitpick, and ignore our partner's attempts to show us love.
We feel misunderstood and not good enough - not at work and not in relationships - no matter how many friends we have and how many promotions we get.
I have seen people go to the ends of the earth and to endless specialists seeking a cure for their lack of self-love, whether they're married or single.
They build dream houses, they go on cruises, they consult psychics, and they join crusades - all to get away from the gnawing emptiness inside, the place that can be filled only by learning to love yourself.
Loving yourself isn't about being conceited.
It's about accepting yourself and your feelings and not needing to look to outside sources to feel like you're worthy of love and consideration.
When you love yourself, you make room for love in your life, rather than always searching for ways to get it from others. That's why I recommend learning to love yourself before trying to "fix" someone or something that's troubling you.
Where Does The Lack Of Self-Love Come From?
Most of us have some resistance to loving ourselves; otherwise we would have already learned how. There are some widely shared reasons for not loving yourself.
First, many of us are unwanted from the very moment of our conception. Some estimate that up to 60 to 65 percent of pregnancies are unwanted or unexpected.
The circumstances of our conception have a much greater impact on us than we might think.
Over the years of helping people learn to love themselves in therapy, I have come to have a healthy respect for the impact of our parents' original attitudes toward us.
Later, parental or authority figure disapproval contributes toward our lack of self-love.
Our parents may have disapproved of our essential being instead of our behavior. Maybe they said, "You're a slob" instead of "I don't like this mess you made."
Or our teachers may have blurted, "You're stupid" instead of telling us, "That answer is incorrect."
Personal trauma such as abuse, neglect and violence may also have played a role in our lack of self-love.
Because of these reasons, many of us have come to feel that our very essence is corrupt; that our existence here is wrong; that our being is a burden on the world around us.
Our self-esteem has taken a beating.
This is why we feel emptiness inside relationships, and never quite believe that we can have the kind of love we dream about.
We sabotage our relationships with fighting and mistrust. We believe our partner is going to leave us and create the exact conditions for them to do so.
At work, our colleagues praise us for a job well done, but we feel like imposters.
And it's no wonder.
No one can tell us we deserve love. We have to feel it for ourselves.
We Will Only Feel Deserving Of Love When We Learn To Love Ourselves.
A decision like "I'm unlovable," made when we are 2 or 22 can affect the quality of our lives when we are 30 or 60.
When I was a child, I felt abandoned by my mother and father. In actual fact, he died and she went to work. Of course, I did not understand about death, bereavement , and economic necessities.
To my young eyes, it looked like I was being left by people I had been relying upon.
I remember feeling angry and sad about not ever seeing my father and having to share my mother with a bunch of unseen strangers every day from eight until evening.
Even then, she would often be tired and irritable; it was so different from the warm and happy life of a short time before.
I subconsciously believed that I was the cause of her stress, and I came to believe that I therefore didn't deserve love.
Fortunately, that all changed when I was in my 20s and had a breakthrough that reversed all those false beliefs and opened up a whole new way of being for me.
I finally learned that I could love myself, regardless of what I had been through as a child, and regardless of what I was experiencing in life at any given time.
Learning to love myself and feel deserving of love was a breakthrough that changed my entire life.
I became a sought-after speaker, appearing on Oprah and many other TV shows. I became a successful therapist, a best-selling author, and best of all - I fell in love with Katie and stay happily married for more than 30 years.
None of these things would have been possible if I didn't feel that I deserved love.
If you know you deserve love, but you're not sure how to FEEL THAT in your heart, I want to help.
That’s why Katie and I have been writing our FREE advice newsletters, to provide helpful tips and proven ways to improve people’s lives.
We write about relationship issues, about the fears and hidden commitments keeping love away, about self-love and much more…
We'll show you ways you can let go of what's blocking you from feeling in complete acceptance of yourself. And share strategies of how to move through the dark feelings of loneliness and rejection that stem from feeling unworthy of love.
You'll learn the proven techniques I've taught to tens of thousands of individuals in the last several decades that have led them to more personal fulfillment, inner peace and higher self-esteem.
You deserve love, you absolutely do.
You deserve to enjoy being loved by someone else and you deserve to know that you're good enough just as you are.
You don't need to prove your worthiness to anyone, least of all yourself. When you learn to love yourself, you will finally be free to create what you want and to love deeply.
Don't spend your life feeling "less than."
Take the steps to loving yourself today and enjoy all that life and love have to offer.
Click Here To Sign Up To Our FREE Advice Newsletters & Continue Your Journey To Love & Harmony
Warmly,
Gay Hendricks
About Katie and Gay Hendricks
Gay and Katie Hendricks have been leaders in the field of relationship transformation and body mind therapies for more than 45 years.
Gay holds a PhD from Stanford and was a professor of counseling psychology at the University of Colorado for 21 years.
Katie holds a PhD in transpersonal psychology and has been a pioneer of mind-body integration for over 40 years.
Together, they've authored 35 books, including some used as primary textbooks in universities around the world.
They've appeared on over 500 television and radio shows, including Oprah, CNN, CNBC, 48 hours and others.
They've co-facilitated countless seminars and workshops around the world for both individuals and couples looking to experience more ease and flow in their relationships.
Get More Advice from Katie and Gay Hendricks
Communication Mistakes That Kill Passion & What His Silence Doesn't Mean
Your Greatest Barrier To Attracting Genuine Love Is Not What You Think It Is
What Happened To The Incredible Connection The Two Of You Shared?
Phrases That Kill Intimacy - The Communication Mistake Of Not Listening
Are You In A Fake Relationship? Signs To Look For If It's Real Or Not
The Surprising Reason Why You Become Deeply Upset With Your Partner
The Ten Second Miracle
Relationships Flourish Or Wither In Ten-Second Windows Of Communication
"The world has sped up a lot in recent decades. We may feel that we don’t have a minute to think about things, so when things happen, we have to react instantly.
The first Ten-Second window following any pivotal interaction with another person is critical. Fear is felt in 1/10th of a second, but can wreak havoc the rest of the day, based on how we respond.
Our relationships can either flourish or wither, depending on what we say or how we choose to show up in those crucial moments.
When someone we care about shares a truth with us, the words we choose to respond with can either shut down intimacy, or open up deeper connection.
If we choose the wrong words, based on fear and pretense, we may set ourselves up for years of misunderstanding and bad feelings.
If we choose the right words, based on the authentic way we’re feeling, we create a space where we can breathe easy and feel connected, even if those words are difficult for us to say.
Your relationship hinges on how you handle these important moments, ten seconds at a time.
You may even say that your happiness in life depends on it."
Learning To Love Yourself
Loving Yourself Changes Your Life More Than Anything Else You Can Do
"The Learning To Love Yourself Special Bundle will help you learn the process by which you will free yourself of feelings of chronic dissatisfaction, will increase your self-esteem, and will allow you to feel at peace with your life and love.
It will help you transform ALL your relationships, no matter how difficult they are now, to be more open, loving, intimate and honest.
The transformation can be immediate, and can last a lifetime!
You will go from feeling criticized to feeling accepted and loved, even if the other person in your life does NOTHING AT ALL to change their behavior.
It will stop the cycle of the negative thoughts, arguments and worries, so you can feel at peace and enjoy open, genuine relationships free of drama and tension."
Attracting Genuine Love
What REALLY Prevents You From Attracting Lasting Love
" Here’s the truth about attracting genuine love in your life: It’s all about small inner shifts that have big, life-changing results.
And, when you make them, you can make every single dating mistake in the book and it won’t matter.
These inner shifts get to the root of what’s blocking you from finding true love (destructive beliefs, fears, doubts, insecurity and pain) and empower us to know what we really want and don’t want in life and love.
These love blockers run under the surface of all we say and do, and even though we often don’t realize it, they control who we attract and how we feel in our relationships.
It shows up in the men we date (unavailable, untrustworthy, jerks, deadbeats, cheaters.. you name it).. and in the way we feel with them (unfulfilled, disconnected, unsupported, lonely, fearful, incomplete…), and how we feel about ourselves (lonely, afraid, not pretty enough, not smart enough, anxious…)
And until we address those root causes, we will never change the way we experience love.
These shifts go deep, but with our guidance, they don’t have to be hard.
In fact, you can start making them right now, and see immediate progress in your love life.
You just need a guide that helps you identify what these shifts are, how to make them, and how to keep them.
Our program, Attracting Genuine Love, is that guide. And it’s guaranteed to help you make changes with lifelong results, if you are ready to make them."
Say Something, Be Heard!