How do I accept myself spiritually and physically?

A technique for accepting yourself spiritually is to evaluate yourself by asking ethical questions and answering them honestly.

Here are a few examples:

• Would you get in front of a moving vehicle to save your child? If your answer is yes, then if you were a child, would you love somebody who is capable of that?

• If somebody that you care about is sick, would you be willing to give them a bath, change them, make sure they are comfortable, and feed them some soup? If your answer is yes, then if you were sick, would you love somebody who is capable of that?

• If your pet is complaining because they need to go out to use the bathroom, but the temperature outside is really cold and you have the sniffles, would you be willing to take them outside despite being uncomfortable? If your answer is yes, then if you were a pet, would you love somebody who is capable of that?

Do this exercise towards different aspects of your life. It’s a great way to learn to love and accept yourself spiritually by realizing that you are worthy of being loved because you are capable of giving love.

To accept yourself physically, first realize that your body is just a coat that covers your soul. It’s what you have been given to carry and everybody has a different one. People find similar things attractive because society dictates what defines attractiveness. There is no written law that dictates what defines beauty and what does not. In fact, what you see with your eyes is actually different than what anybody else sees because it’s modified by your perceptions. To take this a step further, you may discover that as you move closer to a mirror your appearance may change. It turns out that even mirrors don’t show you how you really look because the further you get from a mirror, the more your appearance is modified. You’d get a far more accurate picture by staring at your reflection in water. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.

A good exercise is to first learn to find the beauty within things that most consider unappealing. For example, go out and look at a slug. Many people would not find slugs appealing. Find some beauty in a slug and in other things that are not usually seen as pleasant to look at. After you have done this for a while, look at your reflection and find the beauty within yourself. Realize that you are imperfect for some but are perfect for a specific type of person. Your physical is unique, specifically so that you can attract the person that you are supposed to be with because your look is their preference. If you are with somebody and they love you but are not attracted to you, then they currently are not the right match for you. Perhaps it will be later when their views change or perhaps someone else is better suited for you. If you change yourself in order to attract a specific person, then you are forcing a match but it’s not a genuine one. When it’s meant to be, the way that you are inside and your appearance outside will be perfect for the other person.

Physically, you are already perfect and when you can accept that about yourself, you will experience a whole new level of freedom. You would not believe what people could accomplish if they could make better use of the time that they currently spend criticizing their own appearance.