I spent a large portion of my adult life as part of the ‘new age’ community. One common idea you’ll hear is that “you need to accept yourself and love yourself as you are.” I am pretty sure that I ‘get’ the underlying concept here, but in practice this leads to people trying to feel fine about themselves even if they are not “where they want to be” physically.
Well, at the risk of offending my positive-thinking former companions, I don’t accept myself as I am. I don’t like being out of shape and overweight. I’ve spent 16 years getting more and more flabby. I’m not putting up with my own lazy attitudes any longer. I’m going to change. I know that it’s hard work, but you know something?
I’d spent also spent a good portion of my adult life working really hard. Hard work doesn’t faze me.
To me, ‘accepting’ doesn’t mean being unwilling to change, it means loving yourself as you are while still working to grow as a person (be it becoming more compassionate, getting fitter, learning more, etc.)
If we’re doing it right, then we’re all works in progress right until the day we die. Constant ‘under construction’ signs hanging around our necks!
Great article. And I agree with Melissa’s view. But I have also seen many who have used this line as an excuse – to not exercise / learn / or do something new which would make them better than before. Compromising/patience is good, but not when you can make a choice. This post should be able to strike a chord in those “wise-men/women”. 🙂