For many people, self-acceptance feels like submitting to defeat. The quest for self-improvement, especially in cultures that encourage focusing on all things external, can take over. Every endeavor is informed by the stress of trying to become something more, or stave off feelings of diminishment.
Allowing for who we are – including the parts we sense but don’t know well – can offer a much needed place of rest. Not to give up on working through our challenges, trauma, or neurosis, but to find a vantage point in the mind that can see more.
The problem with subtly rejecting who we are is that we’re always on the run. Always trying to get somewhere or live into a sense of who we long to be.
If we can slow down the pace of this marathon, enough to simply notice the truth of who we have become, including our impact on others, we stand a much better chance of genuinely evolving into a more curious, reflective, and compassionate person. Someone who can risk full-throttled living, because there is a place within to accept the truth of who we are and may become.
What Is the Risk in Accepting Who You Are?
