Acceptance is what I consider to be one of the most powerful factors in feeling safe and secure. When we feel accepted by the people who love us, it gives us the freedom to seek a content and satisfying life. But what about self-acceptance? How important is that element in feeling secure?
The unconditional connections we build with others helps to sustain us; we are always better served when we have a strong, supportive circle. But self-acceptance is also key in creating a purposeful life for ourselves, as it becomes an important factor in our foundation. Here are some signs of self-acceptance:
- You can be comfortable alone. This doesn’t necessarily mean alone and single (although it can!), but it also means that you can tolerate periods of being alone. Your spouse in on a work trip, there are evenings when everyone is out of the house and you have some time to yourself, you have to travel alone to meet your friend, etc. When you are comfortable alone, you look forward to this time – you don’t dread it.
- You can self-validate. When we are able to validate and make our own feelings and needs important, we have moved to self-acceptance, as we don’t need someone to do it for us. It is still nice when others do of course, but we are also our best cheerleader.
- Your internal voice is balanced and sensical. In other words, you are not constantly criticizing yourself, but instead have the ability to give yourself praise and compliments and/or recognize and learn from your mistakes.
- You can make decisions. When we have the confidence to make decisions (even knowing they might not be the right ones), we have accepted both our strengths and our weaknesses.
- You feel at peace. When we feel settled and grounded within ourselves, we better navigate stormy seas.
Self-acceptance is an important element in being able to be true to ourselves; when we lead with authenticity, we tend to have secure outcomes and feel an overall satisfaction with the direction of our life.
Photo credit:https://unsplash.com/@marcospradobr
this is a very good post kristine
im most vulnerable alone
my self-validating has improved a lot
my internal voice is bad
no problems making decisions
feeling at peace fluctuates a lot
Thank you Brian. It sounds as though you know yourself quite well which is always an important element. I would also say that with your self-validating having improved and having no problems in making decisions, perhaps you are making room for a more supportive internal voice 🙂