I often ask people to look in the mirror and say I love and accept myself exactly
as I am when they can't do it or won't do it or find it painful or silly then I
know they are killing themselves with their own critical thoughts do this
exercise in a mirror see what comes up in your mind notice how you feel this
may be the center of your problem resenting criticizing or fearing others
and not being willing to love and accept yourself when we won't love ourselves it
just means that we are still believing the old limitations that someone taught
us many years ago usually that person was someone who did not know how to make
their own life work but remember your limiting beliefs are only thoughts and
thoughts can be changed let's change them now the only thing you ever have
control over is your current thought loving ourselves to me begins with never
ever ever criticizing ourselves for anything criticism only locks us into
the very pattern we are trying to change understanding and being gentle with
ourselves helps us move out of it after all you have been criticizing yourself
for years and it hasn't worked let's try a proving of yourself and see what
happens self approval and self acceptance right
here and right now are the keys to positive changes it is also important
that we release the past and be at least willing to forgive love
is always the answer to healing and health and the road to love is through
forgiveness it is imperative for our own healing that we release the past and
forgive everyone we may not know how to forgive and we may not want to forgive
but because we say we are willing to forgive we begin the healing process we
do not have to know how to forgive all we need to do is to be willing to
forgive the universe will take care of the house the Course in Miracles says
that all disease comes from a state of non forgiveness and that whenever we are
ill we need to look around to see who it is that we need to forgive I know that
the very person you find it hardest to forgive is the one you need to let go of
the most forgiveness means giving up letting go it has nothing to do with
condoning behavior it's just letting the whole experience go and coming into the
present moment we understand our pain so well how hard it is for most of us to
understand that they were also in pain and doing the best they could with the
understanding and awareness and knowledge they had in order to heal
ourselves we need to be willing to change our thinking to forgive others
and to learn to love and accept ourselves more when we refuse to be
willing to love ourselves then we are denying ourselves our own healing self
acceptance and self approval in the now are the keys to positive changes in our
future one of the ways in which we Unknowing
deny ourselves love is to make ourselves wrong to be critical of what we do or do
not do even using the word should limits you and removing it from your vocabulary
will make a great difference in your life it certainly has in mind let's take
the word should and discard it forever never to be heard of again should is a
word that makes a prisoner of us every time we use should we are either making
ourselves wrong or someone else wrong we are in effect saying not good enough or
you have failed or you are going to fail or just wrong begin to listen to how
often this word is used and how crippling it is let your understanding
and awareness grow and make you free replace the word should with the word
could could lets you know that you have choice and choice is freedom we need to
be aware that everything we do in life is done by choice there really is
nothing that we have to do there are always things that it might be best for
us to do however we always have choice so now every time you hear yourself
using the word should let a red light go off in your mind then gently allow
yourself to release it and let it go please don't use eliminating should as
another excuse to get angry at yourself all we want is understanding and
awareness then things will drop away by themselves you might notice oh dear its
27 times today I've said should no wonder I'm such a rigid person now that
would be understanding and awareness and the road to freedom one of the worst
things we can do is to get angry at ourselves anger only locks us more
rigidly into our patterns sometimes we think we have to be angry at ourselves
in order to change you may have been angry at yourself and scolding yourself
for years and still you haven't changed that is not the way to do it think of
what happens when we yell and scream at a tiny child all the joy goes out of
their life and if we yell and scream at them long enough
they literally shrivel and sit in corners or they tear up the room the
same things happen to the little child within us when we get angry at ourselves
we lose our joy we lose our creativity we lose our spontaneity we lose our
freedom and our health we don't need anymore anger we need more
self-acceptance and more self-love when we can accept ourselves right now as we
are right now without any criticism or judgment then we are truly loving
ourselves and the negative patterns must dissolve if we wait until we have the
new job before we love ourselves or if we wait until we lose weight before we
love ourselves or if we wait until someone else loves us before we love
ourselves then we are denying our existence right now if we wait until we
become perfect before we love ourselves we waste our lives we are already the
perfect outer expressions of our inner understanding and we will change but the
changes we make when we love and accept ourselves are always positive always so
let's release the anger and all those negative beliefs about
ourselves and about life and begin the process of accepting and approving of
who and what we are in the here and now we are always unfolding in the best way
we can the knowledge and understanding that you are already incorporating from
this tape will help you to change your life and dissolve the negative patterns
no negative condition can remain in our lives when we truly love and accept
ourselves love is the healing power love dissolves anger love gets rid of guilt
love fades away fear love for ourselves is the power that heals us on a physical
level I would suggest that in addition to whatever program your doctor may have
created for you you also see the services of a good nutritionist you
could go to the health food store and seek advice or go to the library and
read a book on nutrition or talk to a friend who understands the importance of
good food in your diet and how it can help rebuild your body there are many
things you can do to assist in your own healing body mind and spirit must be
balanced it sounds more overwhelming than it is
just begin where you are doing what you can it's like cleaning a house it
doesn't matter in what room you begin if you keep going eventually the whole
house becomes clean let me repeat I believe it is our birthright to be
totally healthy and totally fulfilled in every area of our lives
let us claim and accept that birthright right now