Self acceptance

accepting yourself as you are, especially those things you cannot change.

Never grow old in your mind. Your true age is how you feel inside. - Valerie J. Hayward

Self-acceptance means acknowledging that you are as you are and being comfortable with it. It doesn't necessarily mean liking every aspect of yourself.

Some attributes can't be changed, and you may as well accept them right now. Take your age. You can disguise it, lie about it, try to hide it, but you can't change it. Similarly, you can do little about your gender (without going to drastic lengths), your race, height, eye colour etc. You also have little chance of transforming the way the world works, society in general and other people. But you can find a way of making the best of yourself, by:

1. becoming better informed
2. acquiring new skills
3. changing unwanted habits
4. handling relationships and problems more effectively.

But bear in mind, self-acceptance does not mean giving up on yourself. If some disliked aspect of yourself is important and can be changed, do something about it. There's no point in feeling bad about something you can change, just as there's no point in feeling bad about something you can't!

You must learn to accept yourself before you can expect others to accept you. - David Baird