Emotional Healing and Self-Acceptance

When it comes to healing, most people think of physical healing from an illness or injury. However your mental and emotional health is just as important as your physical health. Emotional healing describes getting through any type of traumatic or negative emotional experience you have had to endure. This can be a breakup, loss of a family member or pet, loss of a job, anything in your life that caused emotional distress.  It can also be something from your past that you never quite processed, or just an overwhelming feeling of sadness you can’t quite define. Here are some things to know about emotional healing. 

Signs You Need Emotional Healing 

First, let’s go over some common signs that you need some emotional healing.  

You are constantly overthinking or overanalyzing things – Overthinking seems harmless, but it can lead to needing emotional support and healing.

Having no emotional filter – An emotional filter means while some things might affect you, not everything does. It can feels like you can’t handle anything or you have little control of your emotions. 

Temper or agitation – If you find that you are regularly lashing out at people, it is a sign something else might be going on.

Steps to Take for Emotional Healing

Once you realize you need to focus on emotional healing, these tips and strategies can help: 

Forgive yourself for past mistakes – Even if something bad has happened in your life because of choices you make, you still deserve forgiveness. Everyone makes mistakes for what often feels like a good reason at the time. Emotional healing is sometimes as simple as learning how to forgive yourself. 

Make peace with what you can’t control – In addition to forgiving yourself for situations you were involved in, you should also make peace with anything you can’t control. What other people do and what happens around you might affect you emotionally, but that doesn’t mean you need to take it all on. Sometimes realizing you can’t control everything allows you to find more emotional healing.

Find a place of self-acceptance – Can you accept where you are right now in your life? Self-acceptance is not just accepting about yourself as is and never trying to improve yourself. It is more about coming to a place of acceptance of who you are right now. It is an important place to be during any phase of your own life. It might not solve all your problems, but accepting, appreciating, and understanding things right now is a great first step. It can instill confidence and help you then decide what, if any, improvements you want to make. 

Steps to Take for Self-Acceptance

Be Your Own Best Friend 

Accepting yourself for who you are and loving yourself is about being your own cheerleader and best friend. Think of yourself as someone you are trying to get to know and want to be friends with. What about you is a quality you would personally look for in a best friend? Are you loyal and kind? Are you honest? Are you fun to be around? Do you have a good sense of humor? Are you someone others can lean on? These and other qualities you possess are worthy of you loving and accepting, just like your friends would. 

Appreciate Where You Are Right Now 

No matter what goals you have or what ways you want to transform yourself or your life, you need to still have appreciation for where you are in life right at this moment. People think by accepting themselves, it means they don’t want to improve anything in their life, but that isn’t true. It is more of a way of expressing gratitude for who you are and what you have accomplished so far.  

There is No ‘Good Enough’ to Reach 

Too many people wait until things are good enough to do something, they are good enough to start dating or get into a relationship, their life is good enough to share with others. You are setting impossible standards you might never reach, because good enough or perfection doesn’t exist. It is all subjective, and you will probably keep changing the rules.  Stop trying to set standards for when you are good enough to do something, and just do it right now.  

Realize You Are Nobody Else, and They Aren’t You 

Every person is a unique, amazing, flawed individual in their own right, including you. Comparing yourself to others is a pointless endeavor, since no two people in the world are alike, and never will be. You are just as special as everyone around you, and vice versa.

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If you’re finding yourself stressed, overwhelmed, anxious please feel free to email/call me for a free, no obligation, consultation. Remember, you deserve to have the life you want! heather@setsailtherapy.com 317-648-9295.