My daughter, when she was 10 years old, came home crying. “I have such bad teeth!”, she said. “They jut out and everyday these horrible kids tease me! They say I look like Bugs Bunny! It’s terrible! What can I do?”

I sat her down and asked, “Do you really have huge teeth that can be seen even when you close your mouth?”

“Yes!”, she said soulfully. “Well dear, then accept it. There is nothing one can do yet. But when you are older, it will be so different when work starts on correcting them.” I then whispered an idea into her ears and she smiled.

At school the next day, when the kids teased her again, she smiled and said, “Yes! You are right! I do have ugly teeth and I am Bugs Bunny and I love it this way! So, there!”, and she walked on. She was never teased again! She was happy too, as she had accepted her looks.

Often times accepting a situation is the first step towards finding a solution and changing the perspective is the magic wand.

The mind can be tricked into believing what is seeded in. Trick the mind to view self or a situation differently. Pause, close your eyes, imagine taking a step back and looking at yourself from a distance. The situation takes on a different perspective.

I am fat! I am skinny! I am nervous! Nobody cares for me! These are thoughts that often run in the mind. Accept that you are what you claim to be and then seed into the mind a different thought. This thought will be a result of the change in perspective, the difference in view or the solution that you have discovered due to the exercise above. Focus on your strength to uncover more solutions.

Keep repeating it. You need to accept this new thought completely.

This exercise in self acceptance is another small step in the mind workout.

“Day 4: Tune In & Tune Out” next.

Recap: Day 1 , Day 2