To accept yourself, you might have to reject yourself...

"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction."

~Pablo Picasso

I've often heard it said that self-care is the road to self-love.

But as a person who gets much of my self-worth from giving to others, this thought made me uncomfortable. It seemed selfish (well, it is about self, after all) and something that would force me to miss out on an opportunity to help someone else. It wasn't until I came to a crossroads a few years ago and realized I was on the road to self-destruction that I considered I might want to rethink this.

I clearly wasn't self-focused enough. I was allowing the winds of life to blow me away.

So I sat down and evaluated what needed to go. What were the things that I could keep? What about my personage required to be 'destroyed' to allow me to 'create' the person I knew I needed to be. The person who deserved my 'self-love' and nourishment. And it had to start beneath the skin. While self-care can help us feel better in our skin and our body immensely, it will not fix everything that lies between our ears. Where it counts.

I had to begin to see myself as the healed person I believed I could be.

Spiritual activist Marianne Williamson wrote, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” I see how true this was for me. Reach beyond your comfort zone to discover the hidden potential within. Do whatever you find difficult to do, and realize that you possess more power than you had allowed yourself to believe. For me, it began with limiting my nutrition to only what would feed me adequately. Then, I moved to daily walks. Next, Yoga.

A couple of years ago, I would never have believed I could do this.

I thought I was too old and too weakened by life's circumstances to do this. As I have come out of the experience transformed, asking myself, “If I can do this, then what else am I capable of?” That lesson helps me tap into my power to overcome the challenges that I face every day.

So go ahead. What do you need to reject about yourself today?
What will you learn to accept?
What will you become through the process?
Cheers.