Jennifer Lopez on Ending Marriage with Anthony: 'I am positive'

Jennifer Lopez sounded romantic when she spoke to Vanity Fair magazine in her first interview since her break up with Marc Anthony. J Lo said finding a way to love herself is what motivated her to end her seven-year marriage with Anthony.

The actress and singer made one thing clear that both she and Anthony tried hard to continue their married life, but it didn't work out. It was Lopez herself who in fact decided to end the marriage. However, even if they are apart now, Anthony "will always hold a special place in my heart," she said.

"It's not that I didn't love myself before. Sometimes we don't realize that we are compromising ourselves. To understand that a person is not good for you, or that that person is not treating you in the right way, or that he is not doing the right thing for himself if I stay, then I am not doing the right thing for me. I love myself enough to walk away from that now," Lopez said justifying her decision.

"I am positive - determined to move forward with my life, bring up my babies, and do the best job I can as a mother, entertainer, and person. I now look forward to new challenges. I feel strong," she added.

Lopez, 41, and Anthony, 42, are parents to three-year-old twins Max and Emme. The couple got married at J Lo's Beverly Hills home in a June 2004 ceremony, just five months after she ended her high-profile engagement to Ben Affleck.

Before her marriage with Marc, Lopez got married twice - first, to restaurateur Ojani Noa and after that with dancer Cris Judd. She ended her marriage with Noa in 1998 and with Judd in 2003.