Last night I was at an event where a woman I had just met commented on my appearance.

She admired my dress and the way I looked in it and then said, “I love how you embrace your body image. You are so confident and it shows.”

In the past, I might have immediately jumped to… What does that mean?

But I could tell by her face that she was truly sincere in her compliment.

I realized then that for years I have worked on acceptance, in relation to others, but how often has my self-acceptance fallen to the wayside?

How many times have I been self-critical about my actions, my choice of words, my appearance, always believing I am somehow “falling short?”

I told my new acquaintance how I often struggled in the past with finding fault in all of my physical imperfections and she said, “I find that hard to believe. You are beautiful and you have really inspired me to be braver about my own appearance.”

I knew then… at that moment… by just choosing to behave “as if” that evening and wear something that maybe I wouldn’t have chosen to wear in the past, that I was heading towards spiritual growth and my own self-acceptance but… that I must continue to work on being kind to myself, less judgmental… and try not to be so hard on myself while I navigate my life.

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“Dear God, help me to find self-awareness but also self-acceptance. Help me to be kind to others… and also be kind to myself.”