Acceptance of self encourages acceptance of one another.

Infertility Resources • Mental Health • Mindfulness
June 2, 2020

A few years ago, a piece of stained glass Michelle had created crashed into the concrete floor of her old apartment. After cleaning up all of the little broken shards of blue glass, she carefully packed it away vowing to never trust one of those plastic hanging hooks again. 

Michelle recently pulled the piece back out to admire all of its smooth and jagged edges and hung it up in her window to catch the morning sunlight. For the longest time she wanted to repair the missing section, make it whole again, until she heard the expression “Broken, Not Broken.” 

We are all just that –broken and not broken– all at the same time. We all have shards or pieces of glass that we collect along this journey called life. Some shards we want to sweep under the rug never to be seen again (infertility or racism). Some we might actually pick up and examine closely, studying the edges and pointy bits. Some will take the time to reconcile all of the “shouldas”, “wouldas” and “couldas” before accepting the reality and offering forgiveness to themselves before letting the past go. 

There will always be shards of you you want to forget. What you do with the pieces is up to you. 

One suggestion is to hold all of your broken and not so broken pieces at the same time. Honoring each piece, accepting the reality of what is, and then wrapping yourself in a blanket of forgiveness, kindness and compassion. And when you’re ready, can you offer to wrap all of those broken and not so broken pieces around you in that same warmth and comfort? 

Because when you begin to accept yourself, all of the dark and light that makes you whole. You begin to accept those around you vs. trying to change them or be fearful of them. In the understanding and acceptance of oneself, we create space to allow one another to be seen for who we are exactly as we are in each and every moment. 

We’re more alike than we are different. When we embrace one another, we are one.