We, all at times and for all sorts of reasons, look to the acceptance of others to help us through the journey of life. In fact, in my opinion, the greatest recognition you can be given is someone taking the time and making the effort to validate your feelings.

This most basic form of recognition signifies that you are worthy of the attention, empathy and time of another party, and at the same time, it also acknowledges your value in the life of someone else. 
Alternatively, though, and this is a significant point, if this attention or recognition doesn’t happen, it shouldn’t be automatically assumed that you are not worthy of someone’s time and recognition. Chances are, it is simply a case of the other party being distracted, and although you are important, something, for some reason, right now has their attention. Nothing more, nothing less

Now, although the acceptance of others is nice and makes us feel good about ourselves, I don’t feel it is the most crucial consideration. For me, the most important thing is how we view ourselves.

Are we prepared to accept ourselves and give ourselves the credibility we deserve?

For most, if not all, “ourselves” is a work in progress. We are always looking to improve, to be better. The reasonable approach to being better is underpinned by the fact that we recognise opportunity, the bad perhaps because of obligation and or dissatisfaction. We should always be looking to be better for positive reasons; however, if our reasons for changing are only from a negative perspective, e.g. totally dissatisfied. I would imagine there may be other issues that also need to be addressed. However, that is a discussion for another time.

Great advantage can come from your preparedness to accept yourself, accepting the good the bad and the ugly, but also your desire to change where change is identified and available.

It absolutely drives me crazy when you ask people “how are they” and the stock answer is…’ surviving’. Really, that’s where you are at? Obviously, at any given time, there are those amongst us who are unfortunately struggling. This is not what I mean. What I am alluding to is the people who see life as a day-to-day thing, where you just accept what comes your way.

When you accept yourself, you don’t just accept what is thrown at you. You don’t see yourself on the receiving end of anything and everything. Through your level of self-acceptance, belief and worth, you see yourself as someone who is worthy of more. And you know that more isn’t just going to turn up; more is there, and it is your responsibility to go get it.

Why?

Because it’s available and you are deserving of it.

You simply refuse to sit and wait; you are an active participant in your own life. And because of your attitude, advantage number 2 comes your way…Opportunity!

Based on the law of attraction, how you see yourself will go a long way to influencing what comes your way. If you see yourself as deserving, if you have levels of self-acceptance and belief and through a preparedness to help yourself, opportunity will come your way. No doubt about it!

Life Rewards Action! My father’s favourite saying.

Through your acceptance of self and your desire to make the most of life, you will be actively seeking and making the most of opportunities. This attitude and approach will allow you to embrace all that life has to offer, the fun, the challenges, the success and the failures. All of this and a whole lot more.

Your approach to self will also bring with it a preparedness to accept others. Being comfortable in your own skin allows you to be comfortable around those who are different. Exposure to differences allows your levels of learning and understanding to escalate.

Being comfortable in your own skin and being open to accepting others the way they are will bring an abundance of quality people into your life. Good people make for a good life!

Through all of this, you will be grateful for all you have, yourself included. You will always be searching for more, but not through dissatisfaction, but through the realisation of opportunity, availability and desire.

You will accept yourself as you are now and how you can be in the future, which is very important because the whole point in accepting oneself is to make sure that for all the right reasons and in all the right ways…

The Journey Continues!