We were made to love and be loved. Loving ourselves and others is in our genetic code. It’s nothing other than the purpose of our lives—but knowing that doesn’t make it easy to do. We find it a challenge to love ourselves since it might seem selfish. We might have a hard time letting love in from others, often afraid of getting hurt. We have not imagined a wider love for all humanity as in the Buddhist practice of loving-kindness.
There are tools for learning how to love ourselves, others, and everyone in evolved adult ways.