Your Relationship with You
How you think about and treat yourself truly matters.
Illustrations by Townen Jones
When you think about relationships, you probably think of your interactions with your parents, siblings, friends, classmates, or people at church. But there’s another important relationship that can sometimes be overlooked.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then–Second Counselor in the First Presidency, said we have important relationships “with our God, with our families, with our fellowman, and with ourselves.” How you think about yourself—and treat yourself—makes a big difference!
Here are some ways you can build and strengthen your relationship with you.
Check in with Yourself
Consider taking a moment to ask Heavenly Father to help you see how you’re really doing right now. Things may be great, or you may realize that things aren’t as good as you’d like them to be. Pausing to examine your social interactions, physical health, spirituality, and other areas of your life can help you identify areas you’d like to adjust or improve.
Set Healthy Boundaries
In your relationships, it’s important to let others know what behaviors you’ll accept—to set boundaries. It might feel awkward at first, but letting people know the Lord’s standards you live by, what makes you uncomfortable, what you don’t have the capacity to do right now, and how you want to be treated can be a big help.
In this way, you show respect for yourself and your well-being. This also helps you meet your needs and develop better, healthier, and more balanced relationships with others. At the same time, accepting opportunities that help you stretch and grow—like giving a talk in church—will build you and your confidence.
Make Time for Things You Enjoy
It’s not selfish to make sure you stay healthy and recharged in the midst of all your responsibilities. Reading a good book, watching your favorite movie, spending time outside, or participating in music, dance, sports, or art can give you renewed energy to meet the demands of life as well as fresh strength to help and serve others.
Connect with Heaven
Most important of all, you can have a better relationship with yourself when you work on a real and lasting relationship with your Heavenly Father. You can draw closer to Him through prayer, scripture study, time in the temple, and other ways. As you do, President Uchtdorf said you will “learn to see yourself as Heavenly Father sees you—as His precious daughter or son with divine potential.”
Seeing yourself this way will help you treat yourself with more patience, kindness, respect, and forgiveness. You can find the inner strength to change, do better each day, and work to become all that Heavenly Father knows you can be.