This time of year often speaks of resolution to change.
But what if you tried something different?
As an alternative to trying to resolve, I invite you to consider how it could be to accept the thoughts and feelings you may have, even when they are negative.
To accept the things that are outside of your control.
To truly identify, and live in line with, your own core values (many of us continue to live out someone else's).
Therapy often focuses on the reduction of symptoms. Acceptance theory invites us to wonder whether it is, in fact, inevitable that we will encounter suffering in our lifetime.
In whatever form that takes.
And that instead of fighting it, maybe we could allow those thoughts and experiences to exist, without trying to deny or change them. Not avoid them, but rather to face them, and come out the other side. To stop the fixation that does not serve us well.
And on the other side, to bring into focus those values we identified as meaningful to us personally.
It can be hard to realise your true values. If you find this tricky, perhaps imagine 2 of your close friends or family talking about you where they don't realise you can overhear. What would you hope to hear them say about you and your values?
Or perhaps you could wonder what matters to you overall in life? What do you want to stand for?
And if you'd like to explore your own acceptance further, I would be happy to meet with you.
What you resist, persists. What you accept, transforms.
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