For a long time, I believed I had to become someone better before I could feel at peace. There was always more to accomplish. Always another reason to put off being gentle with myself.
Learning to accept care has been part of learning to live differently.
I think about how readily we can see that another person deserves kindness. Someone is struggling, and we want them to know they matter. We don't need a list of their accomplishments first.
Then we turn toward ourselves, and somehow the rules change.
I want to keep noticing that. I want to leave room for the possibility that the kindness being offered to me is sincere. That I don't have to argue with it or immediately prove I deserve it.
If you're living with mental illness, there may be days when a kind word is difficult to believe. I won't pretend a few sentences can make those days easy.
But I hope there is something here you can carry with you: you are welcome in a conversation before you have everything figured out. You can be cared about while you are still finding your way.
I'm still learning how to let that reach me, too.