1. Make a list of every person in your life that you have given permission to define who you are.
Then say, “even though I gave this person power to define me, I choose to take it back today and I am willing to love and accept all that I am, just as I am.”
2. Fill in the blank…
“I feel most loved when_____________________” Make a list of those things in life that truly refresh your soul and expand your heart.
Choose one thing from that list a day and do it.
3. Give yourself permission to take the time to answer the following question:
“I feel most accepted when…”
Observe how many things on your list are dependent upon the reaction of the people around you. Erase the things on your list that involve you farming out your sense of identity to what you do rather than who you are. “I feel accepted when I give myself permission to simply be present to God and all of His beautiful creations that surround me.”
Authentic self acceptance has nothing to do with the response of the world around you.
Self Acceptance flows from within so take the time to nurture moments that give you the opportunity to explore what needs to shift inside of you for you to release the “I will accept myself when” list.
4. Let go of this: Worrying about what other people think.
Wake up and realize that you are not the opinions or responses of the world around you. You are beautifully and wonderfully created. Remember that the same hands that fashioned all of the wonderment contained in nature created YOU. Any time you are concerned with the response of those around you, which often leads to jealousy and comparison it is as if you are saying, “You have something I need in order to accept myself just as I am.”
5. Let go of the inner critic: Erase and Replace.
Know this: whatever you focus on GROWS BIGGER and you are the gate keeper of your choice of focus.
As Wayne Dyer says, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Anytime the critic pops up in your head, say “delete” and replace it with the things that are going well for you in the moment, if you can’t find something positive, then focus on the physical: I am grateful I have eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to respond to beauty in life.
An attitude of gratitude expands the experience of self love and love for life faster than any other attitude.