The Moment You Accept Yourself, You Become Beautiful -Osho

The moment you accept yourself, you become beautiful. 

-Osho

We live in a culture that thrives on the idea that we cannot accept ourselves as we are - multiple industries flourish on the belief that we need to be thinner or have better hair or nicer clothes to be attractive.  Basically, the idea that we are never good enough in some way runs rampant throughout our society.  This fixation on what we aren't prevents us from tapping into appreciation for everything we are.

For those of us with eating disorders, we often fixate on trying to stay thin because we don't accept ourselves.  We may believe we aren't smart enough or driven enough or funny enough, so we turn to the eating disorder as something that might give us a sense of worth.  Turning to our eating disorders to solve the bigger problem of self-acceptance is misguided; eventually we realize that not only does the eating disorder not help us address our nonacceptance of ourselves, but now we also don't accept our bodies. 

I love how this affirmation is so simple, and yet carries a powerful message.  With these words, Osho tells us that if we feel we are lacking in some area, turning to something in an attempt to make ourselves feel better is a contrived, inauthentic way to heal.  Rather, it is through gentle acceptance of ourselves that we are able to heal, grow, and love ourselves.  And acceptance of one's own unique humanness is beautiful.  I know that when I feel in a space of self-acceptance, I am a much kinder person, and that makes me feel like I'm bringing beauty to the Universe.

We are all unique and deserve to accept ourselves rather than running in circles because of industries that tell us we aren't good enough.  We are.  So, let us bring beauty into the world today by lovingly accepting ourselves and letting our individual lights shine.

We are all beautiful,

Taylor

I Can Let Go Of The Need To Prove Myself To Others

I can let go of the need to prove myself to others.

Some of us spend too much time trying to prove ourselves to other people.  Whether we are busying ourselves trying to prove we are smart enough or thin enough or successful enough, the problem is the same: we are handing our self-worth over to someone else and giving them and their opinions power over us.

I feel like I have been trying to prove myself to other other people since I was young.  I always wanted to be the best student in order to impress my teachers, or I got frustrated with myself for messing up in sports because I wanted to earn the respect of my coaches.  As I got older, this pattern only continued and deepened - I felt pressure to be the best and do everything perfectly so that no one would disapprove of me.  If I felt that I had let someone down, my inner dialogue with myself was mean and hurtful.  My eating disorder was more than happy to add to this pattern of seeking outside approval, telling me it could help keep me thin so that no one would disapprove of my body - it promised to keep me small and safe from outside criticism.

During my journey of recovery, I have started to realize that I've been fixated for so long on proving myself to others and living up to standards set up by society, that I have never taken the time to step back and consider what I actually value and want to be.  I have been so busy running in circles trying to gain outside approval, I didn't know what it would take for me to prove myself to me, Taylor, and make myself proud.  I am grateful that recovery has given me the chance to really start considering these questions, even though the process takes a lot of work.

This affirmation is wonderful because it reminds me that I no longer need to prove myself to others, and that I certainly don't need to prove myself to everyone.  By giving up this chase, I give myself the opportunity to connect with myself to figure out what I need in my life to make me proud of myself as a person.  And as long as I'm living life in accordance with my own values, and in a way for my authentic self to be put forward, then I don't need anyone else's approval.

We are all unique and have our own individual paths to follow.  We all deserve to see this and to discover self-love and pride for ourselves.  The longer we give others power over our self-worth, the longer we prevent ourselves from recognizing our own values and choosing lives for ourselves that make us feel good about us.  So, let us let go of the need to prove ourselves to others, and take time to figure out exactly who we want to be for ourselves.

Wishing everyone freedom from the burden of constantly trying to prove yourselves,

Taylor

I Bless My Body With Love. All Parts Of My Body Are Beautiful.

I bless my body with love.  All parts of my body are beautiful.

We live in a culture where it is so much easier to say and think mean, hateful things about our bodies than to think or say kind, loving things to them.  Whether we are healing from an eating disorder or just trying to learn to love ourselves, it is essential for us to begin changing the way we talk and think about our bodies.  Letting go of our eating disorders means relinquishing self-destructive patterns and letting our bodies be what they choose to be when we nourish them properly and move them in healthy, loving ways.  This sense of letting go and leaving our physicality in the care of our wise bodies can be highly anxiety provoking, but only by turning over this control can we truly walk away from our eating disorders.

This affirmation is a beautiful one to use when in the space of fear and anxiety about learning to trust our bodies over our eating disorders.  Rather than turning to hateful words about our bodies (which is what our eating disorders want us to do as it will likely push us back toward them), we can choose to see them as divine and beautiful creations - each one unique and special in its own way.  And we can choose to send our bodies love, peace and respect, thanking them for carrying us through this healing process.  We can say these words to ourselves to remind us that we are all beautiful and deserve to love ourselves, especially as we lean to trust ourselves and disconnect from our eating disorders.  Saying these words in times of fear gives us the opportunity to step further away from our self-destructive behaviors, and the chance to trust and connect to our beautiful, resilient bodies.

So, whenever we feel fear, panic or hate, may we turn to these kind words to bless our bodies with love and tell ourselves we are beautiful.  Because we all are. 

Wishing you all self-love for your beautiful bodies,

Taylor

It Is Safe For Me To Be Powerful Without My Eating Disorder

It is safe for me to be powerful without my eating disorder.

Eating disorders are sneaky and deceptive.  One of their greatest tricks is the ability to convince those of us who struggle with them that they keep us safe, and that only by engaging in them do we make ourselves powerful in any way.

My eating disorder has ways in which it tells me I can make myself powerful.  For example, it tells me that by exerting myself physically while restricting, I'm making myself strong and invincible.  It tells me that, in some way, being able to manipulate my body makes me special or unique.  Similarly, in the past, my eating disorder told me that I was special and powerful if I was able to stay as thin as possible, and that people would like me more because of my thinness.  I realize now how convoluted these promises were, and how much they stymied me from discovering other strengths, joys, passions and powers I may possess.

When we get into recovery, we realize that our eating disorders have lied to us - they haven't made us powerful at all.  Rather, they hold all the power and have stripped us of our health, our voice, ourselves.  

This affirmation is so compelling for recovery because it reminds us that it's okay for us to become powerful in our own lives, and that we can do this without leaning on the distorted ideas of power our eating disorders have fed us.  We all deserve to recognize our true, authentic selves, and when we do this, we step into our own unique power.  After using our eating disorders for so many years, it can be daunting to move forward and to allow ourselves to grow and be powerful without them.  But only when we allow ourselves to take the risk, and recognize our full potentials and powers, can we be fully rid of our eating disorders.

So, let us all take time to remind ourselves that it's okay to be powerful, and that we have the right to define what this looks like for ourselves without the input of our eating disorders! 

Sending you all power!

Taylor