“You must love the thing you want to change.” – Carl Jung

I heard this quote today, and it felt like an answer to so many questions I’ve been having lately. Precisely ones related to why I feel stuck on certain areas of my life, and why my awareness still isn’t allowing me to fix them.

I know there’s so much I wish I could change, but I also know that this wish mostly stems from internal fights I have with myself on a daily basis, as I keep coming across more sides of me I still can’t make peace with. None of it comes from a gentle, loving place. A place of acceptance. And I think that’s largely the key that’s about to unlock so many of my problematic doors.

If we think about it, there’s hardly ever a thing anyone’s able to change about themselves upon being harshly criticized or shamed for it, yet it feels like that’s what we do on the inside almost every day. And we can’t possibly hate ourselves into change. Love, truly feels like the best remedy we could offer ourselves on this journey. It’s not the easiest, ironically. The kind of love that can grow from inside and gently spread over all that’s unseen to the outside world. But it’s one that I’m sure is so worth putting in the effort for.

So here’s to working on loving the different sides of me, before I try to change them. 🙏

Basma Zaki