Two Lessons That Can Change Your Life: Self-Acceptance and Letting Go

For a long time, I ran from love. Not just any love, but the unconditional love my parents gave me. I couldn’t fully embrace it because I didn’t believe I deserved it. Instead of letting myself be loved as I was, I set off on a journey of trying to "earn" love—often from others.

I spent years striving to achieve something great, something that would finally make me worthy of self-love and, in my mind, make my parents proud. But somewhere along the way, I learned that I had it all backward.

The most significant shift came when I realized that self-acceptance had to come first, not after some grand achievement. If I could learn to fully love and accept myself as I am, I could stop chasing validation through external success. Once I embraced this truth, I found that I was able to be content in whatever I was doing. I no longer felt the pressure to prove anything, and because of that, I was able to give my all to whatever was in front of me.

Interestingly, as I accepted myself more, my relationship with my parents changed. We became closer because I stopped running from their love and started embracing it. What I once saw as something I had to work to deserve, I now realize had always been there, waiting for me to accept it.

The second lesson that transformed me was learning to let go. Letting go is one of the hardest things we have to do in life—whether it’s letting go of an identity, like being an athlete, or releasing a relationship because you may want to give up on it. It’s painful, and it causes immense suffering until you finally surrender to the process of letting go.

But in letting go, I’ve found freedom. I’ve realized that holding on too tightly to the past—whether it’s an old version of myself or a relationship that no longer serves me—only keeps me stuck- unable to move forward in life. The moment I learned to loosen my grip, my suffering started to ease, and I could move forward with a sense of peace.

These two lessons—loving and accepting myself and learning to let go—have been transformative. They are lessons that I believe we all come to face at some point, and while they’re not easy, they are vital for growth and happiness.

Ultimately, they’ve taught me that life is not about becoming someone different or achieving something extraordinary to be worthy. It's about embracing who you are right now and knowing that it's enough. And when it's time to move forward, let go of the past with grace and step into whatever is next with a heart that is open and unburdened.