What could happen if you accepted yourself completely? What would you do differently in your life?
Take a moment to imagine how total self-acceptance would feel.
Often, when my clients are asked to ponder the notion of self-acceptance, there’s a brief moment of relaxing into the moment and engaging with new possibilities.
But then the resistance starts.
“Doesn’t acceptance mean that I’m settling for something less than,” they ask.
They will point to experiences of perceived failure and ask how acceptance of those times will make up for the loss endured.
Quite often, we forget that acceptance isn’t just settling. It’s actually allowing yourself to say, “this is how things are right now, but they don’t have to stay that way.”
Self-acceptance is also the door to creating reasonable and achievable change in our lives. The door to change will not open unless we accept ourselves, “warts” and all.
Which parts of yourself are difficult for you to accept? Are there physical attributes? Behavioral habits? Ways of being around other people? How comfortable are you in your own skin on a daily basis? If there are parts of yourself that are hard for you to accept, how does that affect your energy?
In this episode of Growing in Uncertainty we delve into the topic of self-acceptance and how to cultivate more of it. Building on last week’s show on self-acknowledgment, we will learn how self-acceptance is part of the foundation we can construct for countering any self-doubt in life.