Self-Acceptance — An Essential Ingredient of Self-Care
By Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach
"To be nobody but myself, in a world which is doing its best
night and day to make me everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle
which any human being can fight and never stop fighting. — e.e.
Cummings
I've written before about the "luxury" of self-care — shifting our
mindset from self-care being something we HAVE to do, to something we GET to
do, with the reward being more healthy and full lives.
But what if, deep down, you don't think you DESERVE a healthy and full life?
What if, deep down, you're punishing yourself with unhealthy habits because
you think you deserve the side effects that result from them?
In my own journey towards self-care, I've found that there are three steps
to self-acceptance. And I've noticed that, for me, they need to occur in this
order:
First, I need to accept myself right now, who I am in this moment. I know
I have more growing to do, and see the improvements I've already made.
Accepting myself as perfect doesn't mean that I can't make mistakes or have
room to improve. It means that I accept the perfection of the version of myself
I am today, knowing that I have the power to learn, grow and change. I've found
that until I accept myself as I am now, I can't begin to change.
The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the best. — Yiddish
Proverb quoted in Finding Joy by Dannel I. Schwartz and Mark Hass
Second, I need to learn how to BE myself (most of the time). That means saying "no" when
that's my choice, not automatically doing what everyone else is doing just
so I won't look different. It also means challenging my lifetime of learned
behaviours in favour of something healthier.
This is a very important practice. Live your daily life in a way
that you never lose yourself. When you are carried away with your worries,
fears, cravings, anger, and desire, you run away from yourself and you lose
yourself. The practice is always to go back to oneself. — Thich
Nhat Hanh in Going Home
And finally, I need to learn more about myself and discover who I am truly
am, at my core. I do this by observing myself, objectively and from a place
of self-acceptance. Good things to notice? Things that make me sparkle and
feel more alive; those will be closely linked to my "heart's desires",
my "life purpose", and my core values and beliefs.
Also good to notice are the things that get my blood boiling, that I can't
tolerate — if it's in someone else, it's usually a reflection of something
I wish was different about myself. Or it's the OPPOSITE of one of my heart's
desires.
From there I start the process all over again, of accepting this new version
of myself that I'm continually defining, redefining and evolving.
Taking it to Your Self-Care Plan
Smile at yourself in mirror three times every day. I've read that just the
act of smiling (and for triple the impact, laugh out loud!) shifts us into
a more positive mood. Share those positive feelings with the person in the
mirror.
Send yourself a THANK YOU card for something you did for yourself. When you
do practice self-care, make a healthy choice or stop a negative thought in
its tracks, reinforce that behaviour, help yourself feel good about it, and
you'll keep doing it.
At the end of the day, write down something that you wished you'd done differently
and then forgive yourself for it (this would be a great addition to your gratitude
journal).
If you're not sure how to forgive yourself, imagine that your best friend
was telling you about something they wish they'd done differently. What might
you say to make them feel better? You could also spend some time writing about
how you could choose to do it differently next time.
So many people have "blind spots"; behaviours or personality traits
that are having harmful effects that they don't even realize. If you're aware
of something that isn't how you want it to be, that's truly something to be
glad about, because now you can move on and choose something different. •
© Copyright Linda Dessau, 2005. 07/08/05
About the Author | More by Linda Dessau
Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. Feel like your creativity is blocked? Sign-up for the free e-course, "Roadblocks to Creativity" by visiting www.genuinecoaching.com.
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