Self-Acceptance

“Love one another, as you love yourself”. This bible quote normally makes me think of ways to show the people around me that I care for them. It also stirs unnecessary guilt about the people I don’t have time for, or even sometimes the people I don’t want to make time for. But that’s because when reading this we only focus on the first part of loving one another. The thing is, there is a second part to this statement… as you love yourself.

Now for me it is easy to love myself, because I have a naturally positive internal dialogue. But there are people who have a natural negative internal dialogue (how we think or talk within our self to our self). When I struggle to like or love myself it is normally because I fear being rejected or that someone else does not like me. To get that out of my mind I either over compromise by telling myself I love myself and I don’t need anyone else (which is not healthy at all). Or I look at my track record (The proof is in the pudding). Therein I will see that I am very much loved by many people so therefore I am loveable. So, my challenge to you today is to read this statement and love yourself because you are a person too. Just like you don’t go around judging other people harshly, stop judging yourself harshly. In saying that I want to re-assure you that you can accept and love yourself and still strive for improvement. It’s about accepting yourself each step of the process while growing into your ideal or goal self. There is beauty in imperfection if you realise that one day it will be perfect. Not everyday is going to be perfect. But there is perfection in every day.

I found that I love other people deeply when I love myself and the better I love myself, the more my capacity to love other people grows. The more my capacity to love others grow, the more influence I gain. And the easier it is to love other people. Self-love for me is like being gratefully discontent. Its to be grateful for who you are but a little discontent in where you want yourself to be. This will help you feel whole but still driven.

#SelfAcceptance, #SelfDevelopment; #SelfEsteem