Acceptance is key #9 to happier living

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acceptance_full_200Nobody is perfect, and my name’s not nobody. Quite often you compare yourself or your (financial) situation, house, car, salary to others. And does that change you or your situation? It may or may not. You may get jealous, greedy or start stealing. You may underestimate or undervalue yourself. If you would accept yourself, it would make you happier.

Be kind to yourself, especially when things go wrong. Enjoy life. This doesn’t mean we should ignore our weaker areas or bad stuff that happens, but it does mean accepting that no-one is perfect, us included. It means putting our imperfections (and things that happen to us) into perspective – seeing them as normal rather than out of the ordinary. And it means a shift of focus, from what we don’t have or can’t do to what we have or can do.

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Love your neighbor as yourself. If you don’t love yourself, you’ll find it difficult to love neighbors.  Self-acceptance expands this concept to: knowing our strengths and our weaknesses, coming to terms with our past and feeling okay or good about ourselves while being aware of our limitations. Importantly, self-acceptance doesn’t mean ignoring what we don’t do well or mistakes we’ve made, but it’s about working with rather than against ourselves. If we are low on self-acceptance, we can be troubled by aspects of who we think we are and long to be something or someone different. This can lead to dwelling more on what’s wrong with us or what we aren’t, leading to a lot of negative self-talk. And this really gets in the way of making the most of ourselves, and of our happiness.

More keys to happiness?

On Actionforhappiness.org you’ll find 10 keys to a happier life.

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