“When Self-Love Becomes a Shield: Rediscovering the Art of True Connection”

When I was younger, I read Osho and thought that his principles on Self-Love were the greatest. After all, he made so much sense. You cannot give what you do not have, so you need to work on yourself. Improve. Know Thy Self. I applied this “ Self-Love”, “ Self-reliance”, hyper independence concept for nearly 8 years and it allowed me to enjoy many many aspects of myself. Until, of course I realized that the teaching is lacking. Not perfect. Because in loving oneself there is the tendency to become “ Self Absorbed”. My Self-love simply turned into my Fear and excuse not to be in any romantic or loving relationship.

It was ironic that I advocated Self-love for a long time. Only to realize, that we can only truly grow and develop if we can express Love. Jesus Christ was selfless, overflowing in His giving. Loving Human on an Eternal Scale. There is nothing about His Teachings that said “ Go Alone” and Forget others. There was something about Osho’s teachings that I immensely misinterpreted.

What I should have asked the Lord instead is to teach me how to Love. How to be patient. How to be forgiving. How to truly build friendships. How to establish a community. How to recognize that I am not disconnected from the others around me. It is never bad to “ Love Yourself”. To want to take some time for yourself. What I just needed to learn was to avoid using my self-love as an excuse to reject others. I wore it like a shield, so impenetrable.

All these years All I had to truly learn was LOVE. How to love. So 2025 is the beginning of asking the right questions again. Paano nga ba mag mahal? Really Love. Like the way Jesus Christ has loved us.