Whether or not you love yourself, you have the right to receive support and care from others. That's what friends and supportive community is for. You can also have sex if you don't love yourself fully. Sex is just another activity, like jogging together or playing squash. But when you recognize the signs you love yourself, it might mean that the timing is getting closer for you to enter a deeply supportive relationship with a romantic partner. Only you will know the signals that are telling you it's time to find love with someone else. You're also the only one who will be able to identify whether a particular person is really right for you or not.
Just because you recognize that you love yourself doesn't mean that you need a romantic relationship to complete you, either. Some people are happier not being in a committed partnership; some people consider their friends and family the only committed partnership they really need. A romantic partner can be an addition to an already functioning, healthy social ecosystem. Having them around enhances your life, but you don't feel like the structure would crumble if they weren't in it. No matter what, you are your own emotional container; the shelter you've built for yourself.
When you are ready to find love with someone else, it is because you know that your happiness is not contingent upon their existence. You might look to a lover as a friend sometimes to lift you out of a certain headspace, but you are not treating the relationship like a drug you need to take for your brain to feel good. Sometimes the person you are in a relationship with is going to need you to do the same thing for them, so you don't want to feel like your state of being is completely dependent upon where someone else is emotionally.
When you are ready to find love with someone else, you know because you can laugh and have fun just by yourself. At the same time, you know you would also like to laugh and have fun with someone else, too. If the person you want to be in a relationship with is not around, you can play alone or ask friends to hang out with you, too.
When you are ready to find love with someone else, you are mostly able to take care of your own body and make sure it feels good. You have developed your ways of identifying what you want to consume, how many times a day you want to move, and when you need to rest. A friend, partner, or lover can supply you with what you need if you find that you are not able to take care of your body adequately. For example, if you're out of groceries and feeling tired, they'll share a meal with you. But at the same time, you aren't relying on anyone else to keep you fed day in and day out. When you are run down, you are able to recognize the time and space you need to heal, and are able to give a partner the space their body might need, as well.
When you are ready to find love with someone else, you understand that love doesn't necessarily look like a fairytale, nor does it have to resemble the relationship your parents have had. You recognize that love appears differently to everyone, and that no two people have the exact same experiences with romance and partnership. You also acknowledge that your past experiences with love might impact how you feel and act today, but that they don't limit or restrict your future.
You are able to go forward, hand in hand with your partner, into the tomorrow you want for yourself. No matter what happens next, it will be a new day, and you will feel the hand of the sun playing on the back of your neck.
