This is why I don't live by a set of rules, guidelines, or "theories". I follow my own.

I have never truly loved myself but I loved my ex more than life itself. I love my family and certain friends to death. In fact, I have a love and compassion for everyone. Including people I don't know or have never met. The theory that one can't love others until they love theirselves is bull because of that fact. You can love others before you love yourself, you can love yourself before you love others, and you can have love for both yourself and other people. This means no one theory is correct. It is a mixture of all of them. Don't feel bad if they confuse you, they aren't all correct. What is correct is the fact that you can love others without their being a correlation between the love of yourself and the love of other people.