ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
“The acknowledgement of a single possibility can change everything.”
― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium
According to the definition, to acknowledge means to admit the existence or truth. Recognize the fact or importance of.
FOR SHE’S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW
Let’s take a moment here to acknowledge yourself right now. You have made it this far in your life through all the triumphs and trials. To recognize the importance of your one precious life is to acknowledge yourself!
I encourage you to release any judgements here. Acknowledge the truth that your adult life is the accumulation of the many choices that you have made. Gently accept the truth of your past experiences allow them into your present reality. Sit with that. Some memories will fill you with joy, bliss, and even laughter, and some may bring sadness and invoke tears to come. Please let them fall; they are welcome here. All of your feelings are welcome here, they are all so very important. Feelings are a part of what makes us human. They matter as much as you matter. Feelings must be felt to be expressed in order to be released.
REPEAT AFTER ME
Now is a good time to make an important distinction: You are not your behavior.
Say it out loud, “I am not my behavior.”
You have the power to change your behavior, it is not who you are. The choices you have made are NOT who you are. They do NOT define you. They are choices you made, that is all. You can always begin again, making different choices.
I used to make very different choices than I do now. The choices I made in my past created a life that looks very, very different from the one I am now living. It was when I was first introduced to the very concepts I am sharing with you that I started to drastically alter the direction of my life. My willingness to acknowledge that I was creating similar experiences over and over in my life and relationships allowed me to change the direction of my entire life.
IN THE BEGINNING
I worked with a teacher who introduced me to a different way to look at my life. This was a way that he had learned from his teacher that allowed him to do the same, many years ago. We worked together for nearly two months before I became comfortable enough to share what I deemed to be my darkest thoughts and secrets. You know, the ones I planned to never tell anyone — ever. I remember the incredible feeling of freedom I experienced once I released all the “skeletons in closet”. I was acknowledged by him without even a hint of judgment. I remember hearing him tell me that in time — as I faced the feelings associated with some of my previous choices instead of resisting them — I would heal and the sensations that came with them would become less intense. I remember feeling scared, angry, and sad that there wasn’t a quick fix. My willingness to be willing to allow my authentic feelings to rise up and to face them turned out to be some of the greatest acts of love I could give myself.
Willing to be willing means that I am open to consider what it takes to approach this. I am open to the possibility I am able, I just need to take a look at ways that I have not yet considered. It’s like getting ready to be ready — gathering your make-up before I sit down to put it on before you get ready to go out for dinner.
It took me a while to get the hang of the art of loving myself. It came from a lot of work and a realization that I was no longer willing to tolerate the hurt and pain that I was inflicting on myself. Many miracles followed as I committed to honoring myself in ways that showed me that I was worth loving. I was amazed at how quickly my life could change. I am a product of the miracle that I set out to create with every fiber of my being.
I empowered myself to learn a language of self-love under extraordinarily difficult circumstances — a dysfunctional relationship that I created after a lifetime of looking outside myself for love. I acknowledged and accounted for my choices. And I set myself free with the very steps I am sharing with you.