Accept Yourself... It Feels Good

Self-acceptance - an idea we know is good but it can be elusive for so many of us. In today’s episode, Dr. Brown discusses what it is and what keeps us from it as well as discusses the path to accepting yourself.

Transcript

Welcome to the Best Life University podcast. I'm Dr. Lynn Brown, A counselor and educator. In this podcast, I discuss a myriad of topics related to the five dimensions of personal growth, Mental, Social, Spiritual, Emotional, And physical. Thank you so much for listening. Today's topic is accept yourself. It feels good. To become your own guide, You have to decide whether you want to accept or reject yourself. Do you want to take the risk of improving your life, Or do you want the security that exists by leaving things as they are? You have the potential to be happy, To have an inner feeling of peace that you get from accepting yourself. Begin believing you are doing the best you can with your set of circumstances. Accept the mistakes you make in life. Don't dwell on them. And remember you are not the only person who isn't perfect. This is respecting yourself and your uniqueness. Learn to look at the positive aspects of yourself and living from them will bring self-acceptance. Look for the good in yourself. It is up to you to do it because each of us is caught up in our own lives with our own problems. Few of us take the time to concern ourselves in an in-depth way about others. We live from day to day attempting to cope with our own lives and such is as it should be. It is enough of a responsibility to be concerned about how we live our own lives. To be responsible for another person's life becomes too heavy a load. We are on this earth together and it is important that we do what we can to help others. We need each other in many ways. Both the good times and the bad improve when shared with others. But ultimately we are alone. Each of us is responsible for our own happiness and we can only find it through accepting ourselves. If you have a difficult time with this idea, Make a list of all the things about yourself that make you a special person. Take time to think about what makes you unique. You can even throw away the list afterwards if you don't want anyone else to see it. What is important is that you learn to appreciate yourself. Accepting yourself means looking at yourself honestly. It is taking an inventory of your achievements, Dwelling on what you have accomplished in life. It is accounting for the good you have done in the past and what you are doing now that makes you feel worthwhile. Since you can't be sure others will give you the recognition you deserve, It is up to you to do it. If you give yourself credit for your accomplishments, Then whatever you get from others will enhance what you already have. After you accept yourself, You will not be dependent on others for how you feel about yourself. We all make mistakes and we all do things that are worthwhile. Yet most of us spend more time putting ourselves down for what we have done wrong than we do patting ourselves on the back for what we have done right. Give yourself a chance to be happy. Accept yourself. This may sound self-centered, But it's not. There is a big difference between respecting and accepting yourself and being self-centered. They are really opposites. We all know people who see only the good in themselves and who make sure everyone takes notice. The person who accepts himself doesn't feel a need to let the world know he is important. He already knows it. But a self-centered person doesn't think he is important, So he maintains an image in order to protect himself from others finding out how he really feels about himself. He avoids looking at himself by blaming others for his mistakes. He is unhappy but is afraid of taking the risk of looking honestly at himself for fear he might find he can change his life. Because of this, Self-centered people look to others for how they should feel about themselves. They look for approval by doing things to show they are worthwhile. What they feel they lack they are trying to find through others. But by being dependent on others, They will never be at peace with themselves. For them, The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow will forever remain elusive. Copyright 2021, Lynn Baranius Brown.