Virtues For Well-Being

Day 184: The Gift of Self-Acknowledgment

23 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment

by Rachel Perry in acceptance, Courage, Detachment, Integrity, Peacefulness Tags: Integrity, personal growth, self-acknowledgment, virtues for well-being

Yesterday we reflected about Detaching from Self and now today we honour the Gift of Self-Acknowledgment. Is it a contradiction? No. I’ll tell you why.

The Virtue of Self-Acknowledgement is Integrity. Integrity is “living by your highest values. It is being honest and sincere. Integrity helps you to listen to your conscience, to do the right thing, and to tell the truth. You act with integrity when your words and actions match. Integrity gives you self-respect and a peaceful heart.” (The Virtues Project)

When we can look back at our past or look into our present moment and acknowledge the things that we have done that were Noble, Courageous, Honourable, or distinctive, then we are noticing our strengths and capacities. These strengths, virtues, positive characteristics, are worthy of notice and recognition.

If our goal is to achieve Inner Peace, we must learn to relax the thoughts that tell us we are not Peaceful. When we can acknowledge our “power virtues” that have gotten us this far on our path towards well-being then we can begin to turn our negative I-am-not-peaceful-because-I-don’t-deserve-it-thoughts into positive I-have-actually-done-a-few-notable-things thoughts. This is not easy and won’t be accomplished in a day. So be Gentle with yourself.

All it takes is to make one effort today that makes your life an improvement over yesterday. And tomorrow you will do that again, making one small effort (or big one as the case may be) to make it better again.

The Gift of Self-Acknowledgement is not for boosting the ego. If you take this approach you will find no gift. The gift is in the stillness of meditation when you can become at Peace and Acceptance with who you are. In that quiet state of calm, you can acknowledge yourself Compassionately, and therein you will find the gift.

:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

And now onto something totally different….some “references” in regards to the above post.

Let’s give it up for Shania!!!! Let’s Go Girls! What a great song about being okay with being you!

More on the 21 Day Consciousness Cleanse can be found at http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Get-Started-Take-Debbie-Fords-21-Day-Consciousness-Cleanse. (It’s Day 7 of this online course which I am participating in and journalling about)

The name Abdu’l-Baha, who I quoted above, translates to “Servant of God” and He is loved and recognized around the world for sharing His never-ending message of Peace and Unity. He was imprisoned for 40 years for the sole reason of being a Baha’i. When He was released, He traveled around the world giving presentations about spiritual transformation, eliminating all racial, economic and gender prejudices, about bringing about a Most Great Peace into the world. He is the truest example of living a life of being completely conscious, being completely awakened, and being at total peace with His self and with the world around Him. So I included a quote from Him that I hope readers will enjoy. Reference to Him is capitalized because He holds such a high station of respect within the Baha’i Faith, but He was not a profit or a saint. He was a man who devoted His life in service of humanity, by teaching about and living a life of True Peace.

Copyright Rachel Leigh Perry Pellegrini 2010