Acceptance and Letting Go of Negative Influences-From My Perspective Through Faith.

Knowing you became a mirror of self-reflection. And uncomfortable. Seeing what I saw and finding some of it distasteful was not always a bad thing to happen. Mustering an apology, whether blanketed or for a flawed moment that flung strife in your direction, stung like a deep, jagged paper cut but came with the need for growth.

This process of self-reflection, though uncomfortable at times, is enlightening and essential for personal development, even when there are rarely, if ever, reciprocal apologies.

Some idiosyncratic traits are innate and may resist change. But acceptance is a powerful tool that should always be used out of love, forgiveness, and letting go. It's through acceptance that we can truly grow and improve.

As a person who chooses to let the best of myself rise to the surface, I've learned to accept the unacceptable within me. Some things cannot be trained away, some cannot be dug into and weeded out, and some will always be there. But knowing that what we lock away is something God loves us for anyway, it's easier to put it down and focus on what God loves about us that we also love about ourselves. This acceptance brings a sense of liberation, a relief from the burden of self-criticism.

Be a good person, be a better person than anyone around you because if we all aspire to do that, we all become better people for the effort. But to be reminded of what is known about us that should stay locked away puts a festering ache of the reminder of imperfection and self-loathing in the forefront. Who would want to do that to another person?

Become a Positive Mirror of Self-Reflection for Others.

Strive to be a good person and better than those around you. If we all aspire to this, we all become better people. In challenging conversations, mindfulness can help bring out the best in others. And if a conversation becomes too negative, it's okay to let go and make room for more positive interactions.

Accepting and letting go goes both ways: accepting a person for who they are, then letting them go; accepting yourself for who you are, forgiving yourself, and then letting go. We cannot always be the person we want to be in someone else's eyes. God made us all different for a reason; some differences are meant to be links in a strong chain, and some are intended to be elsewhere.

With Love,