During the past 6 plus years my life has been filled with all things "recovering from my accident". For the most part things have progressed along well and as expected. But the one thing that always seemed to be tugging at me was how to get my life back to the way it was pre-accident. You see I have been associating who I was, what I had, and my career to having been fulfilled and happy. While the reality was - my happiness was not do to these external things, but because of the love I was able to express through these things. You see at that point in my life I had self-acceptance. Self-acceptance equates to self-love and that results in happiness.
What I have been working on this past year is accepting the who I am now, what I have now and realizing that in life there are many other paths than a corporate career. Each step I take in creating a life and me using the foundation of who I am at this moment the closer I am getting to feeling fulfilled and feeling that happiness I thought would be forever gone.
Self-acceptance is the key to happiness as with self-acceptance we are able to feel love for our self. Being able to accept and to love yourself frees you to be able to truly care and love others. Being able to love brings happiness.
"Great Celia, so how do we get to self-acceptance?" I hear you saying. For me it's taken a long time to learn to turn off the little voice (ego) that chatters away saying that I have failed, that I'm no longer the fashionista or outgoing person I was, just to mention a couple of the self-rejecting messages that have been holding me hostage. Whenever I sense ego is starting down a self-rejecting dialogue I try to remember all the fabulous things that have happened since my accident. Mr. G coming into my life, our furbabies, our beautiful homes we are able to share with our friends and family, my strength to keep moving forward and ability to use what has happened to inspire others create their own new life! the list goes on.
Here are some steps I have used to towards my own self-acceptance:
1) changing my thoughts from negative to positive (this does not happen over night - I'm still working hard on this one). i.e. If only I looked like I did pre-accident people would like me more (this is negative) INSTEAD , when this thought tries to come through - I quickly push it away and tell myself how far I have come from looking malnourished after my accident and how healthy I look now (positive - I'm healthy).
2) enjoying the wonderful things and people in my life at this moment ~ (I often flip through my Gratitude Journal and am reminded of all the wonderful things and people I'm thankful for).
3) positive affirmations POST-IT notes ~ on the bathroom mirror to remind me each morning ~ That I am the best "ME" there could ever be; I'm blessed to have another day; today is my day!
Self-acceptance is the key to happiness as with self-acceptance we are able to feel love for our self. Being able to accept and to love yourself frees you to be able to truly care and love others. Being able to love brings happiness.
"Great Celia, so how do we get to self-acceptance?" I hear you saying. For me it's taken a long time to learn to turn off the little voice (ego) that chatters away saying that I have failed, that I'm no longer the fashionista or outgoing person I was, just to mention a couple of the self-rejecting messages that have been holding me hostage. Whenever I sense ego is starting down a self-rejecting dialogue I try to remember all the fabulous things that have happened since my accident. Mr. G coming into my life, our furbabies, our beautiful homes we are able to share with our friends and family, my strength to keep moving forward and ability to use what has happened to inspire others create their own new life! the list goes on.Here are some steps I have used to towards my own self-acceptance:
1) changing my thoughts from negative to positive (this does not happen over night - I'm still working hard on this one). i.e. If only I looked like I did pre-accident people would like me more (this is negative) INSTEAD , when this thought tries to come through - I quickly push it away and tell myself how far I have come from looking malnourished after my accident and how healthy I look now (positive - I'm healthy).
2) enjoying the wonderful things and people in my life at this moment ~ (I often flip through my Gratitude Journal and am reminded of all the wonderful things and people I'm thankful for).
3) positive affirmations POST-IT notes ~ on the bathroom mirror to remind me each morning ~ That I am the best "ME" there could ever be; I'm blessed to have another day; today is my day!
What are you doing to be in a state of Happiness?
Glad to hear you are getting on with your life. We all have to deal with life's happenings. If you cannot fix it, let it go. That seems to be what you have decided to do. Life is to short, live everyday to the fullest.
ReplyDeleteI think what you have been through and how far you have come is such a positive accomplishment, and you have such a contagiously happy blog, plus the furbabies are super cute...:)
ReplyDeleteI am completely blown away by the progress you have made Celia, over the last few years. You are a total inspiration for others and I am so happy to have n-known you. You have helped me in ways you cannot imagine and thanks to your strength and support I have been able to take charge of my own destiny too. Looking forward to having you back full time.
ReplyDeleteHugest of hugs to you and all the family form us both xxx
Like you I remind myself of all I have to be grateful for. I can look back and seen unbelievable progress, changes and blessings. I see where I've come from and am so grateful to be where I am. A journal is a perfect way to remind myself - I am a bit of a journal addict, buying them when I see one that hits my fancy!
ReplyDeleteYou know what's funny? I don't know who you were before and it's possible I might not have liked that you as much as I love the you you are now. Does that make sense? Rather than career-minded, you are outwardly focused and have helped others so so much, me included! You are such an amazing person who has come so far when your pathway was interrupted. What you have done with what happened is mind-boggling. It says a lot about the YOU inside - a woman of strength and character.
I am so glad I e-met you because you are a blessing in my life.
Hi Celia! Thanks for stopping by the post ... I just sent you an e-mail btw ;) What a wonderful and wise post on self-affirmation. That voice in our head can either encourage us to greater things or hold us back as surely as if we had our wrists tied. Very powerful, our thoughts. What do I do? Hmmm ... I try to be very aware of negative talk and ask myself where it's coming from when I hear those voices and when I answer that question I can work to get to the root of the issue. I'm naturally happy by nature but we all have those moments. Happy spring, lovely. xoxo ~S
ReplyDeleteSANDY M Illustration
http://oohlafroufrou.blogspot.com
That is such a sincere and inspiring post.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to know that you're such an optimist
things will get better for you for sure.
You are TOO A fashionista!!! Pishaw. You have incredible taste.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I keep myself happy by doing things I love and keeping only those that I really love to spend time with in my life. The latter has been a slow process. So easy to get caught up! xoxo