SELF ACCEPTANCE – ACCEPTING YOURSELF
Do you tend to forgive others more readily than yourself? Are you more accepting of others’ mistakes than your own? Are you harder on yourself than others? Everyone makes mistakes from time to time - we’re only human after all. We were all created with a unique set of skills and talents than no one else possesses.
Fully accepting yourself and your life circumstances can be a difficult task at the best of times, and we tend to be our own worst enemies. Learning to become more accepting of yourself and loving the wonderful person that you truly are will lead to greater happiness, fulfilment and success in all areas of your life.
There are many techniques that can help you turn your mindset around.
Focus on your most positive traits, attributes and qualities. It is important that you identify and put focus on your positive attributes rather than concentrate on the qualities you may feel negatively about. Maintaining a positive focus will make it easier to attain your goals as you utilize your talent in order to enhance and boost yourself forward. This in turn will help you to better accept yourself.
Steer clear of negative self-talk and thought-patterns. Negative thinking can quickly gather momentum unless kept in check. Feeling disgruntled or frustrated is ‘normal’ every once in a while, but learning how to push those negative thoughts aside and replace them with positive ones will assist in maintaining a positive mindset.
One of the most important keys for achieving self-acceptance, eliminating insecurities and establishing a habit of self-love is the use of ‘positive affirmations’. Using positive affirmations affirms your positive qualities.
Affirmations: expressing in words what we honestly want, and who we truly want to be; then repeating those words or phrases over and over until the subconscious mind accepts them as fact, so that our behaviour follows accordingly.
Affirmations are repeated positive statements. Make a habit of repeating positive affirmations to yourself, over and over. Write them down and put them in places where you will notice them ie, fridge, desk, computer screen, mirror etc.
Through the use of positive affirmations we can think ourselves happier, healthier, stronger, more handsome, prettier, kinder, more patient, more confident, more courageous - whatever will help us love ourselves more and achieve our goal of self-acceptance.
There is a logical, yet often overlooked reason why affirmations work: they are a direct communication with the ‘soul mind’ - and the ‘soul mind’, with its’ eternal knowledge and wisdom, always recognizes and resonates with the truth.
Use positive self-talk as a tool to overcome a negative mind-set as this can help you change the way you think about yourself and your situation. Compliment yourself – and mean it. Say positive things to yourself about your achievements and successes every time you do something right, and even about your looks, your whole ‘self’. Do this often; day, night and in between until it becomes a habit.
Accept your quirky traits and imperfections. Being ‘human’ means having your own unique personality, talents, skills, strengths, weakness and perceived imperfections. Everyone is different yet valuable and perfect in their own way. Everyone has a ‘life purpose’ or ‘life mission’ to achieve during their lifetime, and we are each fully equipped to undertake this mission.
Rather than dwelling on things you are unable to change, look upon them as part of your own uniqueness. Accept them for what they are. Making the best and most of your life requires accepting your (perceived) imperfections.
Disregard ney-sayers and negative people. As the saying goes “you can’t keep all the people happy all the time …” If you try to appease others all the time you’ll quickly discover that not only will people still be unhappy regardless of what you do, but you’ll find yourself unhappy in the process.
To avoid this make your own choices and decisions according to your own circumstances, priorities and values. Be confident that you have done what is right for YOU.
Believe in yourself.
Stop worrying! Worrying about something that may not even eventuate is a waste of time, energy and effort, and it will never help your situation at all. Rather than allowing yourself to be engulfed in fear, make the choice to take action to do what you can to make your situation better.
If there is really nothing you can do to positively change a situation, shift your focus on moving forward in other ways.
Give it your best shot! Do your best each and every day in all that you do. When you know you’ve done your best you are able to be proud of your efforts. Let go of any negative thoughts and feelings as they will hinder you. Don’t be angry with yourself. If you don’t fully accomplish a task to your satisfaction, look upon it as a learning experience. With the lessons learned and knowledge gained you will be able to excel next time. If you know you haven’t really tried your best, commit to doing better next time.
By changing the way you think and feel about yourself you will see the world in a different light. Rather than seeing obstacles you’ll begin to see solutions, and this adds to more self-confidence as you achieve greater and greater things.
New opportunities open up every day and by utilizing positive thinking and fully accepting yourself you can make a real difference in your life.
