ΜΕ, MYSELF AND WHY?

Healthy relationships start within. Here's how to build and nourish the relationship you have with yourself

- Words by MECAYLA MASEKA

We're often taught that relationships with others - be it friends, family, partners or coworkers - are the pillars of a meaningful life.

But there's one relationship that quietly influences them all, one we often neglect... the one we have with ourselves.

Your self-relationship is the foundation on which everything else is built. And yet, we tend to overlook it. But what exactly is a self-relationship?

"It encompasses your feelings about yourself, the way you treat yourself and the decisions you make for yourself," explains US therapist Kate O'Brien in an article on Psych Central.

PROTECTING your time, energy and emotional well-being IS NOT SELFISH - it's essential

WHY A SELF-RELATIONSHIP MATTERS

"It can sound funny to have a 'self-relationship' because society does not teach us to have one," Simone Koger, a marriage and family therapist, writes on Psych Central. "But it is important to constantly be thoughtful towards your self-relationship because it affects all other aspects of your life."