Today's
Meditation:
There
are many people who would take these words and warp them,
arguing that this type of thought is selfish and
unrealistic, a type of hedonism. But these are
perhaps the wisest words that we can consider, for within
them lies the secret of starting to live our lives as
fully as we can: understanding and accepting
ourselves exactly was we are, for in this particular
moment it serves no purpose at all to reject anything
about ourselves.
This
doesn't mean that we can't change any aspect of ourselves
with which we're dissatisfied. As a matter of fact,
this idea is the only way that we'll ever change anything
about ourselves-- we cannot change anything about ourselves
that we haven't first faced and accepted. Do I want
to be more generous? Well, then, first I must accept
the fact that I'm not as generous as I'd like to be.
Then I can work on it. An alcoholic cannot deal with
the alcoholism until he or she first admits and accepts
alcoholism as a part of who he or she is.
We've
come to be as we are because of our reactions to many,
many different stimuli. And some elements of ourselves
are genetic. Either way, once we recognize the fact
that we've always done the best that we can in all our
situations, we can be more forgiving and lose the need to
feel apologetic about whom we've become. Getting down
on ourselves for our shortcomings does nothing to
help us deal with them effectively.
We
have thoughts that we don't like; accept them and be done
with it. We act sometimes in ways that we don't
like; accept that and try to change it. Life goes
on, and our lives become much richer once we allow
ourselves to make our mistakes and get on with our
lives. We are beautiful and wonderful and complicated
creatures; let's not waste time not accepting ourselves
just as we are.
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