A little confession...

graphic courtesy of Media Web Apps

"The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely." ~ C.G. Jung

I have never been a writer... For me to decide one day to sit down an write a blog and try to commit to writing everyday represents a huge challenge.  My first thoughts were, "how am I ever going to find things to talk about?"  So, I accessed another side of my personality, the researcher.  If  there is one thing my repeated forays in higher education have taught me, it is how to research.  I went to the internet and typed in a search for "Self-Acceptance Quotes" and looked at every website I could find.  I bookmarked a few of these sites and now, every morning, I open one of the websites and read through quotes until one of the speaks to me.  This morning it was psychiatrist/psychotherapist Carl Gustav Jung.

Jung's words remind me today of my own struggle.  The thought of accepting myself completely is absolutely terrifying.  The mere idea is looking inward at the parts of me I have worked so hard to hide represents a fear that may only be matched by death.  The process of accepting myself involves looking inward and naming all of parts of me.  Sure, I can name my strengths, but to actually name, acknowledge, and accept my weaknesses...

Even as I sit here writing about this, I can feel fear welling up inside.  I can name a few "lesser" weaknesses and they only hurt a little bit.  But those weaknesses that I have judged to be "big" weaknesses are far more painful.  Interestingly, as I read over what I just wrote...I have already passed judgement on all these things.  Part of accepting is NOT judging.  they are not big or small, good or bad...they are simply part of who I am.  I clearly have more work to do, and that is okay!

Cheerfully Accepting is letting go of the judgments and just accepting all the parts of us.  It is not an easy journey, but each day that I walk down this path, I am more committed to making this change.  I am ready to accept myself completely, even the dark parts.  What parts of you are you afraid to name?  How can you change your frame of mind to allow those parts to give you power?