A Moment to Reflect – Accepting Ourselves, Letting Go, Living Our Own Lives & Setting Boundaries

Accepting Ourselves

Accepting ourselves and others means finding serenity in our relationships. In accepting others, we accept what we cannot change or control. In accepting ourselves, we discover and take responsibility for what we can change. Facing people and relationships realistically, we grow in trust, forgiveness, maturity, tolerance, and faith. We discover our similarities and learn to accept our differences without feeling threatened.

By accepting the realities of ourselves and others, we can open the door to caring, sharing, and living in harmony. We can take care of ourselves and allow others to do the same. True acceptance brings relief from futile struggles and unrealistic expectations and fantasies. We learn to see ourselves and others as we truly are. We learn to see the spirit beneath the body, ego, and behavior. We begin learning to understand, accept, and love ourselves and others as our Higher Power does.

Letting Go

The meditations within are dedicated to the important, often difficult task of releasing our old self-defeating attitudes and behaviors. We can move forward toward greater peace and serenity by letting go of the past and the future; obsessions with other people’s feelings and problems; old guilt, shame, fear, and pain; destructive relationships; impatience; perfectionism; fearfulness; pessimism; and magical thinking.

Letting go frees us to live in the present and build a better future. Without the weight of our old patterns of holding us back, we can move forward along our path of spiritual growth. We can reach for new healthier, happier ways of living.

Living Our Own Lives

When we learn we can’t control others’ lives, we can turn our attention to our own. We concentrate on our responsibilities and choices. We learn to take care of ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We learn to play a starring role in our own lives.

Setting Boundaries

Setting boundaries begins our recovery from the effects of our relationships with addicted, compulsive, or abusive people. As Melody Beattie wrote, “We need to set limits on what we’ll give to others and what we’ll take from them. We need to let others know where our boundaries are and that we are serious about them. Then, we need to change our behavior accordingly, backing ourselves up with positive action.”

By setting clear boundaries on our behavior and what we will accept from others, we begin to take back our lives from being controlled by other people’s thoughts, feelings, and problems. We claim ownership of and responsibility for ourselves.