Dating while you hate yourself leads to toxic relationships, and we can look at Rue from Euphoria as proof.

This is something I wish I knew when I was 19 or 20 years old because it’s super easy to get wrapped up in the most cringeworthy, humiliating, and regretful relationships ever when you haven’t started prioritizing self-love just yet.

That’s totally how things played out for me when I was dating between 19 and 25 years old.

I didn’t fully start practicing self-love until I was 25 years old, which is absolutely insane.

But when I finally started putting self-love into practice, I met my husband right after I turned 26.

I don’t know if I would’ve met my husband if I hadn’t started practicing self-love for real.

I hated myself when I was younger, and therefore, I attracted relationships with men who hated me.

I didn’t respect myself, so I attracted men who didn’t respect me.

When I started loving and respecting myself, I met my husband.

No exaggeration—it’s almost like he floated effortlessly into my orbit.

Rue is a clear-cut example in media of a person who should avoid romantic connections until they’ve done the inner work, healed their trauma, built a backbone, gained some self-respect, and started actually watering their own garden.

I wish I had avoided relationships during my self-hating era because I would’ve saved myself from so much devastation.

Seriously.

The relationships we saw for Rue on Euphoria were undeniably problematic.

And that’s exactly what you can expect from a person who doesn’t love or respect themselves.

[Watch the video above for the full story!]