We hear so much about self-acceptance from people who follow or teach personal growth and spiritual growth. What is self-acceptance? Does it mean accepting your weaknesses or negative habits and doing nothing about them? Does this mean accepting your behavior, attitude and life style, and doing nothing to change and improve? This can be an easy way to give in to laziness, and to having good excuses for leaving everything as it is.

This kind of self-acceptance might make you feel a little better and alleviate feelings of guilt, but it is not enough to contribute to real progress and improvement.

Self-acceptance seems to be not well explained and well understood. Accepting yourself as you are is only the first step. It helps you realize your good and not so good points. It could help you stop the war inside you, and alleviate the lack of satisfaction and the sense of unhappiness. It could develop some inner detachment that will prevent you from sinking into self-pity, negative thinking and other negative states of mind.

Self-acceptance does not mean that you accept what you are and do nothing to change and improve. It does not mean accepting your fate and loving it.

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