What is it to accept and love myself?

This is the season for giving. Here’s a gift I’ve chosen to give myself. Perhaps it is one you might consider for yourself too.

I have been asking myself how I can contribute more to this world? My reflection provided this response, “to accept and love myself so that I can do my best.” This does not mean that I do not need to change unhealthy behaviors. It means being considerate with myself while I am developing and growing in wisdom. It means being mindful of my own negative self-talk and to seeing how little it is serving me. So when I am in a space of being self-critical about something I instead ask what I can learn from what happened and what I can do differently in the future.

I want to invite you to notice if you are being adequately loving and accepting of yourself? If you do find that you are pulling yourself down take notice. Consider how you can be as kind and encouraging to yourself as you would be to someone you love.