There may be a part of your life you find difficult to talk about.

Perhaps it’s how you feel about your body. Perhaps your career looks nothing like you thought it would by now. You might be struggling with your sexuality, finding it difficult to show emotion, or wondering what the end of a relationship says about you.

You can be capable, caring and responsible and still find yourself thinking: If people really knew this about me, would they see me differently?

If you recognise yourself here, I’d like to begin with a question:

What is it that you’re finding difficult to accept—and what have you decided it means about you?

Those are two different things. Making space between them is a useful place to begin.

What does self-acceptance actually mean?

When I talk about self-acceptance, I mean being willing to acknowledge your experience without making your worth as a person conditional on having everything resolved.

You can acknowledge that you feel uncertain. That a relationship ma...