YoM Day 83: self-acceptance

Yesterday, I talked about not neglecting yourself. Today is a new day.

"Perhaps the most important thing we can undertake toward the reduction of fear is to make it easier for people to accept themselves, to like themselves." - Bonaro W. Overtreet

One thing that holds a lot of students back from reaching their full potential is their fear of failure/making mistakes. A lot of students are much smarter than they let on, but they have something they don't like about themselves and that self hate keeps them from focusing and committing to their studies.

One of my students is the youngest in his class, and he also transferred into this class from a lower level than the other kids. It's not that he's dumb or slow, he's just not as cognitively developed and came from a lower grade than the others. The first day of class we did an activity using their workbooks and he was the slowest of the class and didn't finish within the time-limit. This shattered his confidence and he began to cry in class. In following classes he would hesitate to answer because he didn't like that we was behind the others and I can see how that's making class less fun for him each following week.

I told him that it's okay to be slower that the others because it's not a competition, so I wanted him to focus on his own personal growth. Did he improve since the last lesson? If so, then that's fantastic. As he's kept this in mind with each passing lesson I've seen that his confidence has improved. While he's still behind the others, he's making noticeable improvements. The most noteworthy thing is that he's not so miserable in class. He actively participates more and isn't so brought down by how he does compared to his peers. This has made him challenge himself more. The fear that he once had is now being used as personal motivation to improve.

When reflecting on this student, I see how being comfortable with who I am has enabled me to soar beyond my former limits. By not letting my flaws keep me down I've been able to overcome my fears, and when I do that everything comes full circle with my confidence going up. I still have so much I need to work on, so I can't let my fears get the best of me. Like my student, if we all learned to not buckle under the pressure of the pile of expectations placed on us since childhood we'd be more comfortable with ourselves. Like the unshakable lions of the Savannah, when we become the kings and queens of the world when we can look past the doubts, insecurities, and fears.

Believe in yourself. We are all perfectly imperfect.

                                                                                                                            Peace

You are enough.