Mindset Monday – Accepting & Shedding

Lately the words acceptance and shedding have been appearing in my mind. After sitting down and journaling about what these words mean, I realize the reasons they keep popping up are because I’m beginning to accept who I was as well as my past mistakes while simultaneously shedding these parts of me and coming into the woman I’m growing to be.

In life, you’ll experience things and people which take pieces of you. You’ll make mistakes and spend time hating yourself for them. Some people move past these things in record time but for others, like myself, it can take years. From an early age, I dealt with situations that threatened to destroy me. I allowed things from my past to build up until I became the epitome of Erykah Badu’s Bag Lady. While I knew I needed to learn to accept and let go, I had no idea how to. I was dealing with past trauma, baggage from unhealthy relationships, mental illness, and a few other things. I wasn’t in a space of knowing what it meant to unpack. I’ve spoken before on my blog about not feeling in control. Feeling as though someone else has grabbed the steering wheel and my hands have suddenly disappeared.

I wasted so much energy being angry at myself for my past. That energy could have been invested in healing. It could have been spent practicing acceptance and shedding.

I believe accepting comes first and only then can you begin unpacking your bags and shedding layers of who you once were.

Phase One: Accepting

Phase Two: Unpacking

Phase Three: Shedding

I’m currently in phase one. What’s helped me start accepting is realizing I deserve to heal. I realize in order to live the life I want, I have to accept what I can’t change, unpack, and shed the old me to make room for the person I’m becoming.

I’m writing more which is not only helping with this process but it’s also helping me reignite my passion for journaling and blogging.

A transformation like this isn’t a “one size fits all” so my experience will look different from yours. However, I encourage you all to spend time with the parts of yourself you have yet to accept. Do you have recurring thoughts of your past that pop up and bring about certain feelings, ruining your entire day? Sit with these and if you’re able to, write about them. Accepting doesn’t mean pushing everything deep within you. It means releasing it.

In what ways are you practicing acceptance of your past and shedding layers to reveal who you are now? Comment below!

For more inspiration, check out this weeks self-care tip over on Instagram.

Take care.