Self-Acceptance

Last week, I pondered on a serious question.

Do I accept myself with all of my perceived “shortcomings”?

Have I accepted my ‘shortcomings’ such as: fear, impatience, need for connection, or supper sensitivity without judging myself as defective?

Is my acceptance of ‘shortcomings’ apparent in my daily actions and behavior?

How do we know if we have accepted ourselves?

One clue is how much attention and energy we put into getting approval from others. This may include not sharing our deep feelings (fear of judgement) and/or our opinions (offending others) with the primary focus of presenting an image of ourselves that the world wants us to see.

If we accept how we are at the moment, do we care if others accept us or not?

Let us look at some of the benefits of self-acceptance:

• It is miserable being alone with someone (ourselves) who does not approve of who we are.
• If we accept ourselves, then we feel we deserve to be happy.
• If we accept ourselves, we do not demand others to change.
• Self-acceptance creates a sense of peace, confidence and freedom.

I invite you to ponder on two questions.

Do you accept yourself?

How does self-acceptance manifest in your life?

Copyright @2022 by Shervin Hojat