Internal Acceptance Movement

Thank you so much for this message.

This sounds so silly, but when I first read it I started to cry.

It still blows my mind that I. A.M. started out as a small Facebook group and has grown over the years to be something so much bigger and diverse.

It  blows my mind that so many people have responded so positively to the message and the blog.

And it blows my mind that people have been so supportive of me as a person and my own recovery.

I feel so incredibly grateful for comments like this and people like you.

This made my day in every possible way.

I’m so glad that you have been able to find inspiration here to battle your own demons and see yourself for the wonderful person you are.

And that I. A.M. can be a positive place for you to feel accepted.

You can always message me if you need someone to talk to.

I’m here to listen and support in whatever way I can.

Sending you a lot of love and wishing you a happy halloween!

Daniell

It makes me so happy to hear that you overcame your struggles and found recovery.

It’s all about being able to commit, because no one can make us get better outside of ourselves.

You can’t just want to get better, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get better. And its incredibly inspiring to hear that you were able to do that.

Self-acceptance is definitely possible. And I feel honored that you think so kindly of I. A.M. I’m happy to help in whatever way I can.

Sending you love,

Daniell

I’m not really sure what you mean by this.

And I’m also not sure that I agree.

Someone can suffer a loss or experience trauma, and they have every right to feel angry, sad, disappointed, or any other uncomfortable emotion.

Bad things happen in life. There’s pain and hurt and despair and masking it with a smile or positive attitude doesn’t make it feel any less horrible.

I think it’s important to acknowledge that there is bad in our lives, and there is also good. I think it’s important to use the bad things that happen as information to move forward and let go.

But saying it wouldn’t be bad if you didn’t think about it that way feels like it would invalidate someone’s pain.

I also don’t think it’s healthy or possible to “always be happy”. Masking our feelings with a smile and holding our emotions in only makes them build up and eventually come out in unhealthy ways.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being sad or angry or scared or hurt. Feeling these uncomfortable emotions doesn’t make us weak or inept, it makes as human. As humans we are EMOTIONAL beings. Always being unhappy is not human.

And self-improvement is alright, but it can sometimes drive people to feel like they have to be perfect. I think the better thing to strive for is doing the best you can given where you are at and what you have been given. You can’t be anyone but yourself and you can’t do anything other than your best. We’re imperfect and make mistakes. We don’t have to fix ourselves.

We need to accept ourselves.

We need to love ourselves unconditionally.

Thank you!

:)

Thank you so much!

I’m sending you love and hugs right back :)

Treatment is going really well. It’s difficult and facing the things I need to face in order to get better is terrifying. But I know that in the end it will be worth it.

I definitely feel stronger than and more recovery minded than I’ve ever been so far in my recovery. I know I can do this.

Thank you so much for your support and kindness.

It means a lot.

Sending you so much love and strength,

Daniell :)

Thank YOU for everything.

Thank you for this message.

Thank you for being a part of my recovery.

Thank you for adding to the beauty of my day.

Thank you for being you :)

It makes me sad to know that we were friends and lost contact.

I’ve lost a lot of friends because of my behaviors and eating disorder and have been slowly making an effort to reconnect with people as I get healthy.

I would love to reconnect if you are open to it.

I’m so sorry to hear that you are struggling body image.

Unfortunately there isn’t any one specific thing that we can do to feel instantly better about our bodies, but I can share with you some of the things I do to help me feel better about mine.

1. Stop weighing yourself. No number on the scale is ever good enough, so why do you keep torturing yourself with a false sense of self-worth? Throw it away or give it away, or just make the choice to leave it be. It’s a piece of metal. And your worth CANNOT be measured by a number.

2. People don’t walk around saying hey 122 or hey 145. They don’t see you as a number or a weight. They aren’t looking at your body. They are looking at your face and into your eyes. They see you as a person. You don’t think any more or less of people because of their weight, so why do you place that same pressure on yourself?

3. The size of your body does NOT define who you are. It’s your character, attitude, goals, dreams, morals, insights, and way in which you treat others that are truly self-defining.

4. Instead of fixating on the size of your body, try to focus on what your body allows you to do. Be grateful to your body for letting you dance and move and sing and love and explore. Be grateful to your arms for letting you hug the people you love. To your legs for taking you all the places you want to go. Do this for each body part. Appreciate each one for all the ways they allow you to engage in life and live.

5. Make a list of people whom you admire and look up to. These people I imagine, don’t make your list because they are thin and beautiful, but because of the people they are. Because of their confidence or kindness or strength. The weight or looks do not diminish their worth or importance as a human being.

6. Know that the way we feel about our bodies is not because of weight. You are having body image issues because you don’t like the person you are. There is no magic number on the scale that will make us feel better about ourselves. Losing weight doesn’t matter if you hate who you are. You have to change the internal things in order to feel better about who you are on the outside.

I hope this helps.

I feel really honored that you messaged me.

Hopefully next time, if you feel comfortable, you can do it without being anonymous.

Hope you’re having a beautiful day too :)

Daniell

The support means so much to me Sarah.

I definitely feel loved and so blessed to have a connection to so many wonderful and caring people.

Time is a difficult thing with treatment when you are reliant on insurance to pay and insurance decides to stop paying after a week and a half :(

Unfortunately, this is all too common and has happened to me so many times in the past, which is partially why it has been so difficult to get better. If insurance would allow me to stay in residential for at least two months, they wouldn’t have to keep spending me back and end up spending MORE money.

But things don’t always, or usually, go as we want or plan, so I’m going to have to make the best of my situation.

The therapists here are going to try to fight for me to stay at least through the weekend and possibly for one more week, but there are no guarantees.

Regardless, I feel really optimistic and empowered. I know that I can do this and have come a long way.

I’m definitely taking care of myself and can’t wait to get back into blogging for I. A.M.

Thank you so much for standing by me and this blog.

It means more than I can articulate.

Sending you love and hoping you’re having a great night,

Daniell

You don’t have to meet someone to feel a connection to them :)

I hope that you can internalize all the kind things you have said to me.

You are just as strong and  brave and have the same ability to heal and love yourself.

I don’t have access to facebook right now, but when I get out of residential I will definitely add you :)

Send me your email!

Thank you so much for reaching out to me and offering your support. It means a lot to me.

I hope you know that you can always message me to if you need someone to talk to.

Sending you love,

Daniell

This message made my night.

Thank you so, so much.

Sending you love!

This means so incredibly much to me.

Thank you for your support and kindness.

I feel incredibly loved and grateful.

Sending you back the same love and strength and peace you’ve sent to me,

Daniell :)

I’m so glad :)

Thank you for this message.

Don’t hesitate to reach out and message me if you ever need support or someone to talk to.

I just did!

I’m honored that you thought of me and happy to support anyone in whatever way I can.

Thank you so much for this message.

It made my night.

Hope you’re having a great Sunday evening!

Sending you love :)

I’m not sure what you mean by “here”.

Could you elaborate?

Thank you so much for this message.

It made my day :)

I’m really glad you stumbled upon it too!

And if there is ever a topic that you would are interested in and would want me to blog about, let me know :)

Whether it’s change, self-acceptance, self-discovery, or body acceptance, I will try to write something that pertains to it :)

Hope you have a lovely sunday!

Sincerely,

Daniell