My Self-Acceptance Journey - 2021 Update
This month I’ve created all my posts around love (it is the month for it after all). And after the lovely Becca wrote a guest post (which you can read here), I thought it was about time I did a proper update on my own journey.
The last time I wrote about it was June 2018 on an old, shared blog that I used to have (I moved my favourite posts over from that blog – so you can read that post here).
The Negatives
My confidence, body acceptance and general belief in myself has definitely improved since I wrote the last post. However, lockdown has had a negative impact on this and although I do have good days and bad days – I’m mostly struggling (specifically in this third lockdown) and it is definitely having a negative effect on my progress and mental health.
As I’m sure a few of us have – I have put on some weight during lockdown. The actual weight gain doesn’t bother me – it’s just the lack of energy and fitness that has come along with it (in my case). I’ve never been particularly fit, but it is something that I want to improve as I do get breathless quite often. However, I often get breathless anyway as I tend to stop breathing when I’m concentrating (a trait a get from my Mam).
I’m also still finding living in a city a bit stressful as I am definitely a country girl. Obviously, we’ve been spending more time inside, so that bit doesn’t bother me. I’d just like more parks to walk around. I live near Sefton Park which is one of my favourite places to go – however, lots of people in the area have the same thoughts and it often ends of a bit too busy for me. The city is what is best right now though as the public transport links are great for work.
Now, let’s have some positives, shall we?
Blogging
I’ve been wanting to launch a solo blog for a long while. I had posts already written out, planned how I wanted the blog to look and researched everything that I would need. But I kept putting it off as I was so nervous about it. Lockdown gave me the push to do it and I’m so happy that I’m finally blogging again!
I’m feeling much happier blogging this time around and now I’ve found my niche (thank you Grow & Glow) I’m more focussed and know what I’m doing. Creating content for my blog and social media brings me so much joy and I love chatting to you all and creating content that you want. I have so many plans for the near and distant future which I can’t wait to share with you. If you ever have any suggestions for posts what you want to see on this blog or Instagram – feel free to send me a DM on Instagram or email me.
Positive Self Talk
One thing that I’ve found beneficial is saying nice things about myself. We’re so quick to look in the mirror and pick out every flaw that we have – but what about talking about the good bits?
Growing up I used to look at myself in the mirror constantly. My family just presumed that I was being vain – but I was actually picking out everything that I hated about myself (which was a lot) and looking at the different angles in which people could see me (to see what flaws they’d pick out – even though other people generally don’t do that).
I found talking negatively about myself so easy; but it took some training to talk positively. It’s so important to talk to ourselves in a positive way as it impacts how we think and feel. When you talk negatively about yourself – you end up feeling rubbish. So, try and train yourself to point out the positives and see how much better it makes you feel.
Help From Other People
I know that self-acceptance is something that you need to do yourself. But I personally find that other people’s genuine and sincere comments help too. I currently work for a charity and am involved with helping vulnerable young people in the area and I always feel so proud when I receive praise from other people involved. Knowing that I have helped to make a difference makes me feel good about myself and, in turn, helps my self-acceptance.
Self-Care
I’m not sure what the science behind this is – but since improving my self-care, I have found it easier to accept myself. Lots of my self-care activities stem from taking the time to listen to what my body & mind needs. My most common feelings are stress and worry – which always has a negative impact on my thoughts, how I function and how I see myself. So, my self-care activities for when I feel like this tends to be bubble baths or cheesy movies. These reduce the angst that I feel, and I stop being negative about myself. If someone knows the science behind this or does the same thing – I’d love to know!
Career Plans
When I first left university, I felt so lost as I hadn’t secured a job in my “dream career”. One of the issues with this is that I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to do – I had a few ideas, but nothing solid. So, how I expected to go straight into a dream career that I didn’t have an idea of I have no idea…
I adore where I currently work and don’t want to leave any time soon. However, I now do have more of an idea of what I want to do, so would like to have a part-time job in that field too.
I have put this in the positive section as I have started a couple of online courses to try and boost my skill set for my career – but also for myself. I really enjoy learning and, even though I wasn’t able to learn in uni the way that I wanted, I miss the learning aspect and exploring new things. I’ve also been trying to learn sign language, on and off, for a few years. Researching, learning & planning just makes me happy as I am so fascinated by everything.
So, to sum it up – my self-acceptance has definitely improved over the last few years. I am so much more in touch with myself and what I want out of life. Lockdown has caused quite a few setbacks which is really frustrating. However, if it wasn’t for lockdown, maybe I wouldn’t be writing this post – because who knows when I would have finally created a blog?!
Thank you as always for your continued love and support. I hope that you’re all doing okay and feeling good about your own self-acceptance journey. I’d love to know how you’re doing – so please leave me a comment down below.
Cerys x