Monday Mindset
Compassionate Acceptance
It’s Monday—you know what that means! A new focus to start your week with intention.
There’s a lot of anxious energy in the air this week. For just a few minutes, if not more, shut out the noise. Turn toward the present, and embrace the peace of a quiet moment. Right now, there’s just you and this breath. Can you let that be enough?
For the first week of November’s theme, we’re diving in to the importance of:
Compassionate Acceptance
No amount of self-improvement can make up for any lack of self-acceptance.
Robert Holden
Loving acceptance. Self-acceptance. Compassionate acceptance. It all points to the same thing: offering ourselves unconditional love.
When we stop fighting ourselves, we can embrace what is there within us.
But, you may think, if I just accept it, it might never change! What if acceptance isn’t about molding ourselves to some impossible ideal? What if, instead, it is about offering kindness to the parts of us that need it most?
We cannot fix ourselves out of being human (we’ll talk about this more next week). Our humanity encompasses our best and our worst. We all have flaws, and neither denying them, nor punishing ourselves for them can change that reality.
Love doesn’t require perfection. When we choose to offer ourselves love, especially when we are disappointed in ourselves, we create a safe space to see what is true, to accept it, and to carve out a different path for the future. We don’t need more judgment. We don’t need more self-criticism. We need more compassionate presence.
When we learn to accept our flaws along with our strengths without judgment, we can love ourselves more fully. It will take practice, and we shouldn’t heap blame on ourselves if our initial reaction is to jump in with criticism.
Through curiosity, we can take a step back and observe our reactions, but this is not where the work stops. When we react in a way that shuts off love, instead of opens us up to it, we can change course.
We do not have to be held hostage by our feelings, or by the patterns we’ve played out in the past. We are charting new territory, where we open to love as often as possible. As we do, we learn to accept every part of us with the embrace of compassion.
Kindness melts defenses. Why would we fight against loving presence when that is the very thing that offers us the safety to be without hiding or shapeshifting? Remember the power of authenticity? When we turn toward ourselves with compassionate acceptance, we are free to be true to who we are, even as we take steps toward who we want to be.
We are ever-evolving, as we were made to, and we don’t have to keep ourselves chained to old versions that no longer suit us. In fact, as we give up the fight and accept that change is a constant, we can bloom and grow. Life is not static, and neither are you.
Can you offer compassionate acceptance to who you are today?
Can you offer it to the past versions of you?
As you turn inward with loving kindness, you might just be surprised at the tenderness, strength, and beauty you find—even amidst the faults you’ve tried to escape.
Speak to yourself the way you would a friend or loved one.
It might seem silly, but we all have self-talk anyway. Might as well make it kind!
When you find that you are being hard on yourself (or hyper-critical), take a moment to change course. In the same way you would get curious about your train of thought, step back from judgment and instead offer warmth and understanding.
Write it down or say it out loud, but be intentional in compassion toward yourself this week.
Sending so much love, grace, and softness to you this week. The world around us might be unpredictable, but I hope you focus on the soft places you have to land. Make a cocoon, if necessary, and let your mind, heart, and body find rest in the safety of loving spaces.
Until next week (or Wednesday for a deeper dive into unconditional love for those with a paid subscription).