Love yourself with your whole ass

Tracey O'Connell, MD
2 min readJul 7, 2021

As a recovering hyper-achiever, pleaser, andperfectionist, it was a BIG DEAL to learn how to do things less intensely in my life. ⁣I used to try to do so many things all at once, too many things, that the multitasking made me terribly inefficient and beyond exhausted. I put so much of my ass into everything I did, I ended up doing everything half-assed. ⁣When I was trying to be a badass at everything, I was rewarded with money & accomplishments, but left lonely and longing for meaningful connection to others. Most heart-wrenching was the loss of connection to myself. ⁣

⁣It’s ok to do some things half-assed to protect your sanity, like spending less time on one’s appearance, or keeping up with the news. ⁣But it’s not ok to go half-ass on what matters most: your sustainable well-being. ⁣

⁣You matter. ⁣

⁣You can’t show up as a fully authentic human if you lose meaningful connection with yourself. ⁣So don’t be an ass or love yourself with half an ass!⁣

⁣Wanna know what’s truly badass?⁣ Loving yourself. ⁣Why is this a badass concept? Because it’s countercultural and requires courage. ⁣It’s a radical concept in a culture that focuses on external validation and sacrifice of the self. ⁣

⁣Here’s the most badass part:⁣ When you start loving yourself with your WHOLE ass, you won’t believe how much EASIER your whole life becomes!⁣

⁣(Why the jellyfish? No real relation to this article. I don’t think jellyfish even have asses, do they? I just threw them on here because I think they’re cute. Amiright? And what a bummer: no jellyfish emoji! Yet…

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Tracey O'Connell, MD

Tracey is a physician, Certified Expressive Writing & Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator living in Durham, NC. Learn more about her at www.traceyoconnellmd.com