Self-Acceptance Cures All

The more I realize and assure myself that I am exactly where I am supposed to be, instead of dwelling on my past actions and wishing that they had never happened, the more the little voice inside of me quiets down. It’s so easy to get stuck blaming ourselves for all the wrongs we made and every person we crossed, that we tend to forget how far we’ve come and all the obstacles we’ve beat along the way.

In my road to recovery, I believe that self-acceptance is the number one thing that has allowed me to continue my progress. Personally, I have held a lot of resentment towards myself for my past choices and this wasn’t a conscious decision. It wasn’t until I began telling myself that it’s okay to be where I am, that I actually started to relax and realize that I had been blocking my blessings. I had placed such high expectations on myself (probably because society told me I needed to) that I became stuck and couldn’t act because I was constantly in a state of fear. Forever comparing myself to other people, I felt insignificant and my addictions tricked me into thinking that was the way to escape life's burdens, when in reality, it was making everything more difficult.

Self-acceptance has allowed me to take one step at a time, at my own pace. Life is something to enjoy and to celebrate the small wins, no matter how small, because it’s preparing you for the bigger and better things to come. Once we begin to accept ourselves, we are able to understand that we each have our own special purpose here on Earth, that no one else can fulfill. Every unique life experience is preparing us for our destiny, and it is up to us to choose to embrace the call or ignore it and follow the path of addiction, which does nothing but keep us in chains.

The biggest struggle I have continued to manage over the last 8 years, is my constant intrusive thoughts, which are a long-term side effect of abusing drugs. Self-acceptance of these thoughts, rather than a judgmental approach allows me to cope more effectively, thus reducing the frequency of such thoughts. This is who I am and rather than continuously fighting my own mind, I have been allowing the thoughts without resistance. Per Carl Jung, what you resist will persist.

It took me many years to realize that I was unconsciously judging myself and harboring self-hate because I was simply avoiding being me. We’re all special here and to compare doesn’t give us the credit we deserve. We were made this way for a reason and I believe there is a bigger plan for us all. If you struggle with self-acceptance or addiction, know that you’re not alone and you rock when you are letting your guard down and are just being yourself! It takes a much stronger person to be who they are wholeheartedly, than to hide behind a facade. We can do this! :-)