Acceptance with Mr. Rogers
“There are many times that I wish I had heard that ‘just who you are at this moment, with the way that you’re feeling is fine. You don’t have to be anything more than who you are right now.’ I’d like to think it’s also something that’s happened to me through the years, that I’m more able to accept myself as I happen to be, rather than as somebody thought I should be.” –Fred Rogers
Confession is good for the soul, so here I am reader friends confessing. I struggle with acceptance. I don’t always feel good enough, loveable, or forgivable. I don’t often feel like I am ‘ok’ just as I am. Who I was in the past haunts me. The mistakes and messes I have made shame me. They tell me I’m no good, not worth loving, not worth keeping, and sometimes not even worth living. They tell me that who I am is not acceptable. They tell me I should be what someone thinks I ought to be rather than who I am.
There are times I wish I had heard those words of “just who you are at this moment… is fine” from SOMEONE! But the next part of his quote is what I find most profound. His hope was that as the years went on he could more easily accept himself, just as he was. And that is where the test is.
Other people can tell me I am ok and acceptable just the way I am until they are blue. It won’t change what I think and believe about myself at all. It is like pouring water into a cup with a hole in it. It might fill up temporarily, but eventually the cup needs refilling. It is only when I tell myself I am loveable, forgivable, good enough, worthy of living, and really ok, that I accept myself. I don’t have to be someone else’s idea of who I should be. That can only lead to more shame and self-contempt. I just have to be who I am right now. I am acceptable, no matter what I am going through, feeling, or thinking.
My hope is that as time passes I will be like Mr. Rogers, more and more able to “accept myself as I happen to be, rather than as somebody thought I should be.” How do I accomplish this? I suspect the same way he might have- one day, one moment at a time.
Quote taken from the book “Life’s Journeys According to Mr. Rogers- things to remember along the way.”
musingsbymindy 