The most important relationship is the one you have with yourself

On the day before Valentine's Day, couples are making romantic plans. Single people may think that they have nothing to celebrate, or they can take the advice of Mylee Cyrus and simply buy themselves flowers, and hold their own hands, but many of those not in relationships are deep down wishing they were in one.

But how do you know you're ready for a new relationship?

Raven Daer, Communications Specialist with Envision Counseling and Support Centre said there is a way to ensure that when you do find a partner, you'll be able to bring your best self to the table.
 
"Self-love is the most important form of love, and I absolutely resonate with that 100 percent, because if we don't love ourselves and respect ourselves, we're not going to be able to go out into the world and navigate through healthy relationships, and we're not going to actually benefit other people in those relationships either."

"A big part of a healthy relationship is individuality: being able to still be your individual self and enjoy the things that you enjoy, on your own, and just being your own person still, so that you can bring that forward into the relationship and together you can be better," she reminded. 

"Take that time to work on yourself, focus on that personal growth before you go diving into any new relationships. Sometimes we want to feel that attention and that affection and everything, which is absolutely natural, but just knowing that we will not really be successful moving forward into new relationships if we don't do that really hard work, personal growth, focusing on what we need to work on in ourselves." 

She said having a strong sense of self and knowing who you are, what you love to do with your time, and strong boundaries all contribute to your self-worth.

"It's always easier to loosen up your boundaries than it is to tighten them up," Daer noted. "So naturally you want to make a good impression, right? You want to be agreeable and fit in, be this really cool, awesome person and as a result, maybe you overextend yourself or agree to commitments or things that don't sit well with you. That's kind of what that people-pleasing looks like, and that results in loose or weak boundaries."

Loose or weak boundaries are harder to build back up again once they are compromised, she cautioned, "so start tight, and then loosen up over time if we need to."
 
Daer added that self-love and self-respect will help you attract someone who mirrors the true value you see in yourself.