I love and accept myself, exactly as I am.

No one has ever renovated a house they refused to survey. The measurements have to be taken as they are, damp included, before a single decision about the kitchen can be made.

Acceptance gets confused with approval, and they are not the same. One is a verdict. The other is accurate description, and it happens to be the only ground anything can be built on.

There is also the ordinary evidence that self-dislike makes a poor engine. Most people have tried it at length — years of it — and the results are not impressive.

What tends to work better is the plain sight of the thing — this house, this damp wall, this Tuesday — and then a decision about what to do first.