Do you know that you are enough?
Or have you felt like I used to feel that there is some part of you that needs to be better.
That when you improve, change, or get rid of those things that you do not like about yourself, then you will be enough.
WATCH OUT FOR YOUR INNER CRITIC
The downside of this approach is that your inner critic will never be happy.
It will keep you on an inner treadmill of needing to be better, or needing to do more. It will always be comparing you to someone else or to some other time.
This is the way it had me – caught in the grip of feeling that I was never good enough.
I didn’t realize that I didn’t have to believe everything that I was thinking.
They were just thoughts that I was believing were true about me. I didn’t realize that I could change how I related to those thoughts, and the best thing was that I didn’t have to wait until sometime in the future.
The secret….
START FROM WHERE YOU ARE NOW
This meant that I had to accept myself as I was at that time.
Even those parts of myself that I wanted to be different. I began to relate to myself in a kinder more understanding way.
I became a friend to myself.
Changing how I spoke about myself and treating myself in the way I wanted to be treated. I became more focused on my positive qualities rather than constantly focusing on what I believed was lacking in me. This simple change in how I was relating to myself had a huge impact on how I was feeling. This helped me to become motivated to bring about changes in my life.
One of those changes was training to become a coach. I wanted to help other people who like me were trapped in the prison of their own thinking patterns. Believing that they too needed to be different in order to feel better about themselves.
It’s not something that most people are taught growing up, and so we grow up believing that we are lacking and need to find some missing piece in order for us to feel okay inside.
That missing piece is self-acceptance.
We are enough, we have always been enough, we just learned that we weren’t.
Our value does not depend on achievements, looks money or status – they have got nothing to do with who we really are. There are many people who have achieved all of these things but are still chasing for more, and are not happy.
ITS AN INSIDE JOB
Our peace and joy is not anywhere outside of us – it comes from within.
So how do we find it?
By making peace with who we are and ending the internal judgements we make of ourselves. We will never be at peace if we are constantly attacking ourselves for not being who we think we should be.
For not being everything for everybody else. We forget that we matter just as we are now.
This is the first step to self-acceptance.
Self-acceptance does not mean that you like or agree with everything about yourself. Neither does it mean that you give up on trying to improve certain aspects of yourself.
Instead, self acceptance is seeing yourself from a kind, caring and compassionate mindset.
Let that attitude begin with you today – because you are enough just as you are.
You may also be interested in this post:SELF-AWARENESS – helenmckillen.com