Acceptance and Resistance
Acceptance of yourself means you have made the choice to be happy with who you are right now. Sometimes it is referred to it as self-approval or self-esteem, but no matter what you call it, self-acceptance feels great. With it comes a sense of being congruent with yourself. It is an agreement with yourself to appreciate, approve and support all of who you are in this moment- NOT who you think you should be- including the parts of yourself you eventually want to change. In short, you can choose to accept and be okay with yourself now, even if you want to continue to change in the future. If it feels really great to accept ourselves, then why don’t we do it? Why do we resist and insist on forcing ourselves to feel bad? Because our beliefs tell us that in order to change we have to be unhappy with ourselves- punish ourselves for not being good enough. We’ve been trained to believe something like this: We keep hoping that if we’re bad enough or mean enough to ourselves we’ll finally make the needed changes.
So, does harshly judging ourselves and withholding self-acceptance work? Only sometimes and only for short periods of time.
Acceptance of yourself makes room for change. It gives you permission to be who you are now- even if you choose to change later. Instead of using up your precious energy resources to reject parts of yourself you’ll be able to use them to feel really great right now! You don’t have to be unhappy about some part of yourself to actively make changes.
How can I accept myself?When you carry around negative beliefs such as ‘I’m terrified to fail’ or ‘I have to disguise and hide my thighs’ you are resisting that part of yourself. Resistance leads to negative feelings and blocked energy pathways in the body. Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is an energy method that works by re-balancing and restoring your body’s natural flow of energy. It is a powerful ally toward gaining self-acceptance. EFT starts with a set-up statement that tells your subconscious mind to relax about trying to be perfect or different than you are. It works beautifully to release blocked energy and uproot negative beliefs and feelings- and restore a sense of self-acceptance. Click here to learn the
5 Steps of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).
Restore Self-Acceptance with EFTBelow are some examples to help you get started but be sure to insert your own repetitive, negative thoughts or limiting beliefs while tapping continually on the karate chop point If you are not familiar with the EFT process, you can learn it quickly here. “Even though I’m terrified to fail, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.” “Even though I have a hair-trigger temper , I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.” “Even though I worry, worry, worry about_________, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.” “Even though I hate my fat thunder thighs, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.” “Even though I’m embarrassed and ashamed of the scars from my surgery, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.” “Even though I always have to be perfect because________, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.” “Even though I’m so shy that when I’m around people I ____________, but I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.” “Even though I’m so awkward around people and I feel like a misfit, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.”
The following statements are particularly powerful in helping you to accept yourself right now. “Even if I never get over (my fear of failing, my bad temper, worrying, hating my thighs, being embarrassed about my scars, wanting to be perfect, being shy, feeling awkward around people) I still choose to deeply love, accept and forgive myself anyway.”
"Even if I never fully accept myself, I choose now to deeply and profoundly love and accept every part of myself." For more guidance or suggestions click here. Return from Acceptance page to Home page
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