Can you honestly say that you accept yourself fully, or do you reject some parts of yourself? Do you accept your personality, your weaknesses, your quirks, and the parts of you that are “still under construction?”
Many people have difficulty accepting all of themselves, they may like their strengths but despise their limitations. I am comfortable with my strong points, but I tend to want to cower down in the face of my imperfections. Let’s face it, we all have imperfections, but we don’t accept all of our “warts and blemishes.” There are sides to us that we do not want anyone to see, not even ourselves! We hide the parts of ourselves that if we’re exposed we could feel shame. So, then we become not true to ourselves and “wear a mask” that covers our perceived messed-up selves. What if someone knew the real me? They may not like all of me, just the good parts.”
When you don’t accept yourself unconditionally that means the good, the bad, and the ugly sides, you will wind up covering up who you are.
If we want to be able to accept other people just as they are, then it must begin with accepting ourselves just as we are. It does not mean we don’t want to be better or want our loved ones to be better, it just means we allow grace to cover areas that are still a work in progress. Grace implies to ourselves and others that none of us are perfect, and all need the space and time to grow and learn. Start today by giving yourself grace for all the parts of yourself that make you uncomfortable, or that you are still finding trouble overcoming.
If you are making progress, not perfection, that is what you should focus on – not how much further you have to go.