Hi, Orchidia!

Yes, loving yourself first before loving someone else is completely true. Personally, I think that measuring the time of how long it’ll take you to accept and love yourself isn’t the right mindset. You must go with your own pace. You mustn’t rush a process that would, especially, make you a better version of yourself.

Accepting oneself is difficult… I can account to that since I’m going through it, as well. inner-peace is right! You should start with baby steps. I’ve read countless of articles here on Tiny Buddha and other websites about self-love. One of the things that I learned is practicing self-compassion. Treat yourself as your best friend, as you would with your other close friends. If your best friend was crying about something and she blames herself for what happened, you wouldn’t scold her for it, right? You’d probably hug her for a long time and tell her that everything is going to be okay. That’s how should treat yourself.

Don’t think about the clock ticking to a countdown. Just as inner-peace said, fall in love with yourself and with life! Have a healthy and long-lasting relationship with yourself first, just as you would with your future partner. Find happiness from inside you, not from other people or things. The good things always happen unexpectedly!

Sincerely,
IFLG 🙂