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As much as I love personal development and the many benefits that it can provide in life, sometimes you also need to know when its time to let all the change go and just do some living, just the way you are!  The way you are is often something we forget to appreciate when we are striving to better ourselves and when that occurs, we can not only forget to appreciate ourselves but also how others are around us.  This is a short guide to some of the reminders we need to live life, just the way you are!

Live Your Core Values

Your core values don’t change easily and if you know them, they should be something easy to live by.  Doing so, helps you ensure you are living who you really are, not what someone else wants you to be, or what often shows up at the surface because of other people’s expectations.  Living who you really are means you are true to yourself, not others.  This of course is much easier said than done, however, the awareness of your own values and living them on purpose can be a huge shift to truly being who you are in life.  I have a couple preview articles you should find helpful to discover your passions and values.

Joy and Appreciation

These are very important to me and a big part of making life wonderful.  Living joyfully is hard to do if we cannot learn to appreciate what we have and all the amazing things that happen everyday.  Yes, life has its share of pain and struggles, yet it’s really just a choice what we want to recognize, think about and let influence our life.  There are often many more things to be joyful for and just a few things we could regret, dwell on or wish for that change the way we live and its the related choices that let us shape life into what we want it to be.  You have to choose to have joy and appreciation if you want them to exist in your life.  You probably know a some people who are happy or joyful despite tough circumstances? And how about people who seem miserable, while seeming to have everything they need in life with far less struggles and adversity.  Everyone I’ve met in my life with extreme circumstances are more easily affected by their choices of what they recognize from those circumstances and how they react to it, then the circumstances themselves and it makes a huge difference in the lives from person to person.  There is always joy to find, recognize and appreciate in life and making it at the forefront will free you to live the rest of your life how you want it, as yourself, instead of being caught up in the past or circumstances outside of your control.

Acceptance and Attraction

Living life, just the way you are means you have to also accept who you are.  Personal development is often seen as a place to change oneself but it isn’t really for that, its a place to discover yourself and recognize things to learn and change along the way.  This is what acceptance is based on as well, you have to accept yourself for the way you are and not burden yourself with overwhelming expectations of change.  If you know who you are now its much easier to decide what changes fit for you and to see the risks, challenges and work required to let them happen.  I’m certainly not saying that personal development is the opposite of living just the way you are, its that if you discover and truly know yourself the way you are now, it’s a journey of change through your life, not a specific target or point of change that you should strive for.

Accepting your own limitations and knowing your limits is important to let change happen naturally as well without forcing things that your body and mind will fight you on (perhaps even unconsciously).  Often what we learn about ourselves is useful to then understand our attractions as well.  Attractions certainly come in different flavors, some like minded and sometimes the old saying opposites attract is just as true.  Attraction can exist as well for things we already know and love, as well for things that excite us or fill a need that we are longing for.  This could be people, but often it is actions or activities as well such as bucket lists or life long dreams.  Attractions are useful to experience life by and they test our acceptance of ourselves and others in the process.  See that, can be a great reminder to accept what is and just keep on living life and the journey it presents.  The attractions will come and go, so let them.

Peace and Contentment

Finally, peace and contentment.  Living life as you are gives you freedom from the stress of change and expectations that do not meet who you are today.  The peace that this brings can be extremely satisfying in that it removes the distractions and burdens leaving you with clear mind and lets you be true to your soul with a contentment about life and living it, just the way you are.