Self-Acceptance

We do not see things as they are.
We see them as we are.

~ The Talmud ~

Well, today I can honestly say that my vacation has finally begun.  Yesterday was a day filled with work...food shopping and cooking...but today...today is a different story.  Today is a day of rest...and I plan to take full advantage of it.  Already I have slept until 9:30 am; it's been so long that I've done that that I cannot even remember the last time it was.

There is one bit of work that I do plan to do in this upcoming week is to start getting some of the fall clothes ready and packing the ones from summer that I know will not be worn again this year...and sorting those that I haven't worn for years.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I have clothing that I love, clothing that I have never been able to part with...clothing in a size 10....and I am a size 2X. It's been many a year since I was able to squeeze into those size 10's, yet, in the hopes that I will lose SO much that I will be able to wear them again (I know, irrational thinking), I dig them out, only to pack them away. 

Is it really the clothes I love so much?  Or is it the fact that they represent what I once was?  Am I that unhappy with who I am?  This year, I have decided to let them go...once and for all. I've grown this year, and not all of it has to do with weight.  I've grown inside, in my soul.  I have to learn how to accept that life is a series of changes...both inside and out.  Our hair turns gray and our faces wrinkle....and our weight usually increases.  And this is something that we all must learn to accept.

Don't believe what your eyes are telling you.
All they show is limitation.
Look with your understanding,
find out what you already know,
and you'll see the way to fly.
--Richard Bach--
(from 'Johnathan Livingstone Seagull') ~ 
 

Self-acceptance.  Many of us look into the mirror and find that we do not like what we see. So, we battle constantly with ourselves as we try to alter who we really are.  And the media doesn't help with its images of so-called perfection that we are constantly exposed to on television and in books and magazines; it's no wonder we are sometimes left with such feelings of imperfection that we make ourselves unhappy by striving for that outer beauty that may  never be.  And, while we may gain by self-improvement in certain ways, we forget that the basic core of self is perfectly fine, the true beauty comes from within.

To judge ourselves so harshly or to dismiss our importance is to deny the happiness that is inherently ours.  Just as we cannot draw water from a rock, we cannot obtain true happiness when we do not like who we are. And when we do not like who we are, we continuously belittle ourselves and reject ourselves, creating an environment that mirrors all of our negative thoughts rather than enhances and helps us to achieve the positive, self-enhancing life we so desperately want.
  
Sure, I'll admit it.  For many years I was that person, but I have come to realize that time passes so quickly, and so much of it can be wasted if we are always worried about what we see when we look into the mirror...our outer shell, nothing more, for that is all it is.  It's not really who we are.  I have learned that whatever you have right now, accept it. That is who you are, who your were meant to be. With the wisdom of age I have realized that it is what is inside that truly counts. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, and those who have beauty in their soul, will see more beauty in the world around them.  I choose to see the beauty all around me.

The best and most beautiful things in the world
cannot be seen nor touched
but are felt in the heart.

--Helen Keller--