Have you ever asked yourself what it is that you have that can naturally bring others close to you or want to be in your circle?
You can not give what you do not have. The quality of the various connections around us is mostly a reflection of how well you have first understood yourself as a person.
It is not uncommon for most people to find themselves in unwanted or unfavourable relationships, groups or even marriage. This is because people will often seek out validation from anywhere just to prove to others they belong to certain circles.
Do you have confidence? Have you embraced your own strengths and vulnerabilities? These little things can act as a magnetic field that naturally attracts others thereby leading to a more genuine intimacy, friendship or association.
This article will show you 9 ways in which building self-acceptance will not only strengthen all your relationships but also transform the world around you.
It is important to know that when we say ‘Self-Acceptance’, this is not the same as ‘Self-Indulgence’ where you are merely gratifying your own desires and wishes without regard for personal growth and well-being. While you seek recognition and love from the various associations around you, you must have unconditional regard as well as an honest awareness of your well-being. This is self-acceptance. It empowers you to make reasonable choices that bring about the kind of healthier relationships you desire.
Here are 9 Ways Self-Acceptance Can Strengthen Your Relationships
- Honest Communication: To know someone who has accepted their flaws, listen carefully to how they communicate, especially with people who in some way rank higher than them in status or title. When a person has self-acceptance, they usually are not afraid to fully express their mind in any situation. They are able to honestly and effectively communicate their needs, ideas, and boundaries. You will not need to be less of yourself to try to make others happy. This honesty and transparency are what deepens and strengthens the relationships you attract to yourself. A clear and honest communication helps to greatly reduce misunderstanding, promoting a higher level of trust.
- Less Defensive in Conflict: When you practice self-acceptance, you have self-awareness too, which helps you to value your worth around the people you associate with. The things you would normally take personally become light for you. You would often have people who will disagree with your point of view, but when you have mastered self-acceptance long enough, you would rather be curious to know their stance rather than be defensive. You are now able to even see opportunities for personal growth instead of emotional bitterness.
- Allowing Others to Be Themselves: When you search within yourself, do you see a person who judges or often wants to make others change for you? You may not be doing this intentionally. It is often you projecting your insecurities onto others. If you find out to be this kind of person, then there is more work to be done on your self-acceptance. When you accept yourself first, you will also want to create an enabling environment for your friends, colleagues, and loved ones, helping them even to reach their full potential.
- Not Relying on Others for Validation: Having an inner feeling that empowers you to have confidence in your own ideas is a key sign of self-acceptance. This does not stop you from asking for help from others, but you are able to know to ask only when it is absolutely necessary and not just because you are afraid or do not trust your own gut. In a healthy association or relationship, no one should be overly dependent on the other. So, if you are looking to strengthen your relationship with others, having a sense of self-worth and self-acceptance is important. It helps you bring emotional neediness to the barest minimum, consequently encouraging more respectful and balanced relationships in your life.
- Compassion and Forgiveness: The stages of self-acceptance will teach you to know that no one is bigger than making blunders. Because you would have gone through making a few mistakes yourself in the past, you definitely know how it feels when you don’t get things working the way they should on your first few tries. For this reason, you would need to be compassionate and imbibe a forgiving spirit. You can not always avoid hitting rough patches when relating with others. However, with self-acceptance in full play in your daily life, and also because you have accepted your own imperfections, you will be able to extend grace to others.
- Build Trust through Consistency: A lot of people find themselves wearing multiple characters in different situations. They do this so they can be seen as being able to adapt to different situations. While this may have its benefits once in a while, what you will lose from continuously pretending to be who you are not is a lot. When you are consistent, people will, in the long run, look for you. You must know that being yourself is also self-acceptance. Why should people have faith in your strength? How can they trust that you will always deliver? The answers to these questions lie in the trust you have built in past interactions or dealings with people. You follow through, you are reliable, and you consistently show up. People will soon identify with the real you who has built a steady and dependable character for himself.
- You Attract Healthier Connections: Because self-acceptance helps improve self-esteem, when you accept yourself, the chances that you begin to attract partners who also have emotional independence and healthy self-esteem increase. This will, in no time, build for you relationships that are not built on benefits-only but rather more fulfilling ones.
- Setting and Respecting Boundaries: Can you say no to someone without the feeling of guilt? Do you feel resentment when you say yes when in fact you meant to say no? That inner ability to refuse intimidation is a powerful sign of self-acceptance. A relationship without order and structure is what you get when you don’t set and prioritize your boundaries. It is the same when you also do not respect the boundaries of others. Having self-acceptance will help you in figuring out how to not take the set rules and boundaries set by others personally.
- You Bring Positivity: A person who has accepted themself do not have time to sit for too long thinking about whether they are good enough or not. They have absolutely no time for self-doubt. Self-doubt takes up a lot of emotional space within you. Let the people around you be blessed with the positive energy that flows in you. It is time to do away with the inner battles of constant judgment and allow people to be free and safe around you. This makes people to always want to associate with you, and you will be surprised by the recommendations you get from this.
