Here’s another possibility to take with you into the coming year – a practice that can offer a powerful way to go deeper into last week’s experiment. It’s about taking on the intention to develop the theme of “radical acceptance” that we explored before. Along with self-forgiveness, we have an opportunity to begin the new year with an experience of being willing to simply be who we are – of being willing to tolerate the discomfort of our mistakes, of our frailties, of where we don’t measure up to the person we want to be.

The strange thing about acceptance is that, rather than encouraging us to continue with behavior we don’t like, it helps us to feel comfortable enough with ourselves to want to do better. Some people are afraid that if they are kind with themselves, they’ll fall into less awareness, or will allow themselves to do things they don’t want to do. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Notice, for example, if you have a moment of shame or feeling you should have done something different from what you did, what happens when you are actively willing to go through that discomfort and just allow it be what it is? By not falling into self-criticism, you give yourself enough space to let the uncomfortable feelings to move through and then move on. By accepting yourself as you are, you’re not saying that you don’t want to improve. Instead, you’re allowing yourself to be human, to be the imperfect being you actually are – that we all are – and allowing that to be okay with you.

As you work with this week’s experiment, as last week’s, be sure to give yourself lots of permission to explore what it’s like to bring an open curiosity to your inevitable lapses of good judgment, inelegant responses to people, your slips of the tongue when you’re talking to someone, and all the other myriad ways you show yourself to be an imperfect human. The process of radical acceptance is learning to tolerate the discomfort that comes from our being truly human, and to give ourselves the space to move through the discomfort into the next moment.

The intention to generate self-acceptance is a gift that we can continue to give ourselves as the year progresses. The effects are nothing short of astounding and I invite you to discover for yourself the power of radical self-acceptance throughout the New Year.