Self Acceptance – Key to Happiness

Self acceptance is the key to happiness. If you judge your self-worth with what you have achieved, you will be disappointed when things turn haywire. In today’s fast-moving world, people have time for nothing. Not for even themselves. The modern lifestyle is so demanding that we are forgetting the basics of healthy living that were taught and practiced by our ancestors.

We are so pre-occupied by our belief systems that knowingly or unknowingly we are heading towards self-destruction. The expectations and aspirations of the young generation are so high that even a small failure in their fulfillment pushes the individual into a dark, melancholy world.

What Causes Sadness?

Sherry was a cheerful young girl in college with very high aspirations in life. She was a bright student with a promising career ahead. But destiny had its own plans. She met with an unfortunate accident and life took a new turn for her. Her studies were interrupted and being confined to home gradually had such an effect on her sub-conscious mind that slowly she moved into depression.

To her it appeared that life had come to a complete halt and she had lost the battle. It took a lot of effort by the doctors and her family to bring her out of the darkness that existed in her mind.

It is very important to understand what causes sadness. Usually people opine, that it is the external factor or environment that makes the person feel gloomy. This is completely a myth. An individual’s thoughts, his values and his way of thinking are the factors that control his state of mind. Happiness lies within oneself. If you search for it in something external, you will end up running after a mirage.

Self Acceptance and Happiness

We all say that we have accepted ourselves and our lives the way they are but actually, we don’t. Self-acceptance is very important in making the journey of life brighter and happier. It is vital to accept whoever, whatever, wherever you are.

Self acceptance is definitely the process of befriending the unconditioned self—the part of you that is more than just your name, your failures or your successes.

Accept yourself the way you are first, and then try to work on your faults to improve yourself. Stop uselessly criticising yourself. Once you find some time from your schedule to look within, you will find that you have a number of strengths and weaknesses in yourself. Accept them.

Accept your weaknesses and once you do that, only then you can make efforts to bring about a change. Say to yourself, “I like myself.” Try to build and maintain your self-esteem. Self acceptance is the first step toward expressing love for yourself.

In an experiment, peers were divided into pairs and each person was asked to list his own weaknesses and the partner’s strengths. In all the cases, it was found that the trait listed as one’s own weakness was pointed as his remarkable strength by the partner. For instance, one individual listed anger as his drawback but his partner in the drill said, that the individual had a dashing presence wherever he went and had the ability to get his work done every time.

It is a matter of perspective. What you feel is your weakness is your strength in somebody else’s view. You don’t “like” yourself because you look at yourself in comparison to somebody else. If you are so fond of comparing, compare yourself with your own self. It will give you better yardsticks to measure the progress and make further growth.

Self Acceptance and the Journey of Life

People often say that, I cannot change. This is my basic nature. But lack of self-acceptance eventually leads to a lot of anxiety and mental turmoil. Nothing external gives the desired happiness and peace. The ability to think in the right direction is lost and gradually the person finds himself surrounded by darkness and unrest. This is because people don’t accept “now.”

A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval. ~ Mark Twain (Tweet this)

Self-acceptance can act as a major tool in paving the way for further improvement and advancement. Also, this way we can safeguard ourselves from the clutches of sadness and despair. To look inside and accept and love the person you are is the greatest gift you can give yourself and others.