How to Embrace Yourself and Connect With Others

Guest blogTherapy

Feb 14

AFrican American woman, dark skin with red hair, hug an african american child with black natural textured afro — Embrace Yourself

How to Embrace Yourself and Connect With Others

This post may contain affiliate links. Clicking on a link at no additional cost to you. Purchasing items may lead to a small commission to help sustain A Solution B.

I might be aging myself here, but did you have a pen pal as a kid? I did! I remember how excited I was when my letter arrived in the mail. It was a wonderful experience to hold a letter that came from another state or country that someone else took the time and thought to write a letter back to me. I loved sitting down, writing and sharing something from my heart, funny or serious. The exchange was so fun as I was able to share my authentic self to someone else in a meaningful way without judgment.

My first pen pal was assigned to me in the 5th grade. She was another 5th grader from Alabama. In the 6th grade, I was assigned my second pen pal from Germany. Both pen pals added so much to my learning because of their cultures as they were different from mines growing up in Illinois.

Meaningful connections with others have been lost due to our overuse of social media and texting.

The simplicity of writing a letter to a pen pal afforded me the experience to be myself, dream and listen while understanding others just the same. That experience alone taught me that I can embrace myself although it can be hard due to wanting to fit in or change based on so-called norms in our society and/or culture.

Meaningful connections with others have been lost due to our overuse of social media and texting. I love technology and its benefits, but nothing will ever replace the human connection needed within ourselves or from others.

Connecting With Self and Others

Here are some ways to embrace yourself and connect with others now:

Don't wait until you find someone to like or love you - start small by saying one kind thing a day to yourself
Don't wait until you lose weight - pick a body part, appreciate it right now and do this for at least 1 week
Share with others, no texting, how you really feel – call a loved one and tell them what you love about them and how they support you
Give yourself a break – it's okay to rest when you feel exhausted; give yourself permission
Avoid criticizing yourself – you're human and will make mistakes time to time, it's OK try not to take yourself so serious
Tell yourself the truth – how do you want to be treated, what aren't willing to do, what are your needs right now?

In Summary

When you embrace yourself, you are being kind to yourself in ways others couldn't do! You're not being judgmental or bashing yourself. When you embrace yourself, you can see clearer and valuable learning opportunities about yourself, what works and doesn't, while identifying a solution to your problems and taking great care of yourself. If you don't know who you are, now would be the perfect time to be curious! Embracing yourself can seem like a big, complicated task, but it can be something fun done this minute.

About the Author

Dr. Holly Sawyer is a licensed therapist, certified addiction counselor specialist, mental health public speaker and self-published author of It's Time to Talk About Trauma and Get Your Mind Right, Get Your Money Right: The Mental Health Guide for Successful Entrepreneurs." She is the CEO of her solo private practice, Life First Therapy where she provides psychotherapy to professional black women helping them navigate their life and career without using substances to cope with depression and/or anxiety when experiencing microaggressions in the workplace. She is also the CEO of the Therapy Loft Collective, an online group private practice

Disclaimer for A Solution B, LLC

The Website may discuss topics related to health, fitness, nutrition or medicine. This information should not be treated as medical advice. This blog does not substitute face-to-face medical or therapeutic services. If you require any more information or have any questions about our site's disclaimer, please feel free to contact us by email at asolutionb@gmail.com

Disclaimers for A Solution B

All the information on this website - https://www.ASolutionB.Com - is published in good faith and for general information purpose only. A Solution B does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information you find on this website (A Solution B), is strictly at your own risk. A Solution B will not be liable for any losses and/or damages in connection with the use of our website. Our Disclaimer was generated with the help of the Disclaimer Generator and the Disclaimer Generator.

From our website, you can visit other websites by following hyperlinks to such external sites. While we strive to provide only quality links to useful and ethical websites, we have no control over the content and nature of these sites. These links to other websites do not imply a recommendation for all the content found on these sites. Site owners and content may change without notice and may occur before we have the opportunity to remove a link which may have gone 'bad'.

Please be also aware that when you leave our website, other sites may have different privacy policies and terms which are beyond our control. Please be sure to check the Privacy Policies of these sites as well as their "Terms of Service" before engaging in any business or uploading any information.