Embracing the Joy of Self Acceptance

Self acceptance is embracing yourself as you are right now, regardless of your past. It's also a skill which needs to be practiced. These tips can help.

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Self-acceptance is embracing yourself as you are right now, regardless of your past. Self-awareness plays a big role in self-acceptance. As you develop the ability to gain knowledge about yourself you will become more and more able to accept and improve those areas where you lack confidence.

Self-acceptance takes some work. You have to be able to get to a place where you know and understand who you are, and that means that you will likely have to make some changes. Self-acceptance also means that you may have to face some fears and step outside of your comfort zone. It’s about being able to separate who you are from what you’ve done. It’s about understanding that everyone makes mistakes, and that’s how we learn and grow.

Accepting yourself doesn’t necessarily mean liking every aspect of yourself. That will come later, with self-love. It means being willing and able to experience everything you think, feel, or do, even if you don’t always like it. If you don’t accept yourself, you will feel ashamed or embarrassed about who you are.

If you are comparing yourself to others, it will be a constant barrier to your confidence. There will always be someone somewhere who is wealthier, prettier, smarter and more successful. That does NOT mean they are any better than you. There are things that you excel at that other people wish they could do.

A very important part of acceptance is to understand that you don’t necessarily have to like things you accept. Acceptance is not the same as approval. If you accept it, don’t think that you are approving of it. There can be things about yourself that you disapprove of, but can still accept, in order to achieve absolute confidence.

A lack of self-acceptance happens for a couple of reasons:

Not being accepted or loved unconditionally as a child. People who have had to experience that pain, will go through life being internally motivated to compensate for that lack of acceptance by seeking it in their relationships with other people.
If the most important people in your life do not accept you as you are, or they are trying to change you this will greatly impact your level of self-acceptance.

The following tips will help increase your self-acceptance:

Remind yourself of your unique talents and abilities.
Be aware of your image and the way you appear to people.
Accept compliments from others and trust that they are true.
Take complete responsibility for your life.
Think about your future possibilities and realize that your potential is unlimited.
Give yourself permission to be your authentic self.
Give yourself permission to fail….failure is a great way to learn and get closer to success!

If you are willing to experience and embrace whatever you think, feel or do, even if you don’t always like it, you will begin to accept yourself and begin to change and grow into the person you want to be.

About The Place

The Place is where therapists, individuals and the community connect to create safety, strength and success. At The Place, men and women discover the freedom and safety to move past those issues which are preventing them from living life to its fullest. Our goal is to help each of our clients discover his or her own strengths as powerful tools in the healing process.

The Place is a multi-faceted clinic offering both individual and group therapy, support groups, interactive evenings and lectures, educational classes, and drop-in hours. Our comfortable, confidential, relaxed environment allows clients and their families to explore sensitive issues and create positive change. We believe that the key to mental health and emotional well-being is inside you.

At The Place, male and female therapists work independently or as a team to explore sensitive issues and facilitate positive change for individuals, couples and families from all sectors of the community. Some of our specialties include emotional eating, grief counseling, internet addiction, phobias, anxiety & OCD, childhood challenges, premarital counseling, couples therapy and intimacy issues, postpartum support, personality disorders, psychiatric care, and more. Connect with a caring professional in person at our comfortable Jerusalem offices, or by video, phone, and text. We’re here for you.