First Lesson in Self Acceptance

Self-acceptance? What does it mean? and how do i go about gaining it? Such a daunting thought to be able to achieve self-acceptance, especially when you have spent so much energy feeding yourself negative thoughts. So to get myself thinking about self-acceptance and how it relates to my compulsive eating i am going to answer the following 10 questions. Feel free to use them and apply them to areas that your lack of self-acceptance is affecting...

1. If I give myself permission to feel my emotions then i will allow myself to explore and begin to understand how the different people and events that are in my life affect me. Also i will begin to understand how I feel about different things, which will help me gain a better understanding of myself and how to deal with hard situations.
2. When I reject my emotions I avoid confronting the things in my life that cause me to be hurt. I mask my emotions with food because it is a distraction from life basically.
3. If I was 5% more realistic about my compulsive eating recovery I would understand that I cannot go from such an intense preoccupation with food and weight to being "normal" overnight. It takes work and the constant dedication to getting better.
4. If I was 5% more optimistic about my compulsive eating disorder recovery I would believe that despite all the failures in the past, this time is different and this time i am serious about recovery.
5. If I appreciate my wins with compulsive eating recovery 5% more I will begin to see the light at the end of this tunnel and that i am capable of conquering this disease
6. If I accept failure, I can accept that it is a normal and natural part of the life cycle and that if anything it will teach me how to change things in the future to succeed
7. My biggest fear is that I will be this way forever
8. Is that fear real? only if i allow it to be
9. I hope that? I can realize and embed in my thoughts that i am more valuable than what i weigh
10. I can see myself… being happy

My Gratitude List (What am I grateful for right now)

1. My family
2. My friends
3. My intelligence 
4. My creativity and writing ability
5. My strength
6. My hope
7. My determination
8. My smile
9. Laughter
10. Silly

I am grateful for all these things...some are people, some are personal attributes and some are just things that I think are important. None of things are contingent on my body but aspects of life that have always been there.

So there it is...my first lesson on self-acceptance