I wonder what would happen if you decided to accept that part of you that you haven’t so far liked – and made a friend of it? I wonder how that part of you would change?
Often when we deny or denigrate a part of ourselves – my impatience, my dodgy left foot etc., – that part feels the need to ‘speak up louder’ to grab your attention and get in your way. But when we accept that my foot has that weird thing going on, and my impatience is simply a common human trait I experience (a bit often maybe) then the part / the trait itself starts to change. It’s like a tiny bit of magic – my pain is much bigger when I’m angry with it or with the circumstances that created it; my impatience is more of a hindrance when I indulge it and so on.
Embrace your imperfect bits, accept them for what they are, live with them peaceably for a while, and later on reassess what’s needed for them. Sometimes this weird little bit of magic does all the work for you.
Accept it
Give it some positive regard
Live with it for a while without trying to change it
Get curious about it
Allow it to express itself
Then see what happens next – there’s a good chance that simply paying it due respect will allow it to express itself then return to it’s rightful size and place. Get curious. Not all bads are bad. Not all goods are easy to live with, not all foibles need to be cleansed.
