In the blog intro, I asked the question “Who are you?”. Now is the time to evaluate yourself. Who are you? Who do people think you are? & finally, who do you want to be? For most teens, you’ll receive different answers for each question, which is OK! I believe a huge issue for teens is ACCEPTANCE. If everyone accepted themselves, less teens or all people at that, wouldn't resort to drugs, alcohol, self injury or certain behaviors used to cope. Acceptance isn't necessarily loving yourself, but COMING To Terms With YOURSELF & your situation. A person who accepts others would say something along the lines of "I don't like that you use substances or do harmful actions, I don't approve of it & don't accept it but I accept YOU". A person who accepts themselves would say something like the following, "I really don't like the things I do or how I cope sometimes but it's ok, I will not judge or reject myself, I accept myself for who I really am, not what I choose to do". Anyone who suffers from any of the obstacles listed should recognize that accepting themselves for who they truly are, not what others think is the first step to recovery. Being aware of who you are & coming to terms with your issues, it isn't the easiest thing to do but it's the most powerful. Once one gets the hang of acceptance, they'll begin to understand the true
