It's Monday morning. This morning I choose to start my week off with a little dose of love. Love for myself that is. I have in the oven a happy, cozy smelling batch of muffins. Never mind the fact that they are chocolate chip muffins! So perhaps this form of love is a dose of comfort food instead of health food. There are many different ways to love.

This is a tale of self love. Do you love yourself? Even more, do you treat yourself lovingly? Does one action create the other? Which came first, the self love or the treating ones self with love? It's all a big loving circle from where I stand (or sit as the case may be!)

Tell me of the love you have for yourself. Does that love manifest itself in your everyday life? Are you putting yourself last? It is good to care for others but we cannot care for them explicitly and to our best abilities, if we have not first taken care of ourselves.

In order to be our best person and to act in love at all times, we must learn how to share that love with ourselves. If we do not treat ourselves with love, who's to say we are treating others with love as well? Perhaps we are only perceiving it as love. perhaps it is manipulation and control, disguised as love. That will make you think for a moment!

Let's begin with you. You know yourself pretty well, right? What can you do to show yourself love? Do some yoga? Read a book? Create some art? Make some muffins? Think of things that are good for you, think of things you enjoy. Giving love to yourself is similar to giving love to someone else. In it's simplest form it is showing kindness, compassion, support.

At the end of each day, take some love inventory. How have you treated yourself with love that day? How have you treated others with love? What was the motivation and intent behind that love given to others? Was it given selflessly? Without conditions? The only true love is unconditional. If your love either for yourself or someone else has conditions placed on it, step back and revisit that place. Ask yourself why. Ask yourself how you can give that love, without the conditions.

I bless you in your love filled journey, may you love and be loved wholly and without conditions. May all your Monday mornings be filled with soft, hot, chocolate chip muffins.