Self-Acceptance

  • Abundant Life,  Self,  Self Awareness,  Self-Acceptance,  Self-awareness,  Self-forgiveness,  self-improvement

    Godly Self-Care: Learning to Live Whole

    Self-care is often the source of disdain for Christian bloggers. Sometimes they have a point in that much of self-care advice is shallow and merely a diversion from the actual underlying issues that cause us suffering. I have nothing against pedicures, chocolate, soothing music, or hot baths. But I truly believe that self-care, in its proper sense, is absolutely godly and even more of a command than a suggestion. The human is the crowning glory of creation, whose central injunctions are to steward the earth and make more humans. I hate those memes suggesting that humans are an invasive species or a virus from which nature suffers. But in all…

  • people pleaser
    Abundant Life,  emotional health,  Emptiness,  Fear,  Self Awareness,  self worth,  Self-Acceptance,  True self

    The Five Wounds of a People Pleaser

    I think most of us struggle with being a people pleaser at some point. Our development as adults requires that we let go of the fear of man as the Bible calls it. We first individuate from our parents, a task that takes decades. After that, we must carve out our identities, choosing what we will and will not stand for as a person. Often this process means eliminating friends along the way, determining which relationships are toxic and which are life-giving. C.S. Lewis famously said that man’s strongest drive was to belong to a group. In essence, humans are herd animals. And like sheep, each of us has gone…

  • depersonalization
    Anxiety,  Mental Health,  mindfulness,  Self,  Self-Acceptance

    Depersonalization: Living Apart from Ourselves

    Depersonalization and derealization according to the definition that pops up in my Google feed: …involves a persistent or recurring feeling of being detached from one’s body or mental processes, like an outside observer of one’s life (depersonalization), and/or a feeling of being detached from one’s surroundings (derealization). Most people have episodes of depersonalization that occur sporadically throughout their lives. It is only when these are prolonged and begin to interfere with every day functioning that the professionals get involved. My observations on this topic are personal and not professional, though I have helped quite a few people identify and move through this phenomenon in ministry. The experts tell us that…