Imagine that you are in a peaceful place of great beauty. Try to visualize your surroundings with as much detail as possible, remembering to breathe deeply and slowly.  As you picture yourself in this lovely place, imagine that your guardian angel approaches you.  As this great and loving being approaches you, you feel loved and accepted and peaceful. 

After a few moments of receiving your angel’s love, you sense that it has something to say to you, and so you listen expectantly.  The words you hear are: “Dear one, as I look at you I notice that you are like a leper, covered with festering sores.  It hurts me to see you suffer when it is so unnecessary. Each sore on your body is the result of some negative thought about yourself, and I see that you are covered with many of them.  It is important to remember that each negative thought is only an illusion.  In reality, you are perfect. If you wish to get rid of your sores, all you have to do is to project kind and loving thoughts to them.  Your own self-love will be like a salve that will quickly heal them. Try to imagine that your skin can be shed as easily as a snake’s skin.  Then, look at yourself and you will notice that you are a radiant being of light, without flaws or sores at all.“

As you consider this important message, you begin to believe that you truly are powerful enough to make your negative thoughts (sores) disappear.  In fact, you suddenly realize that you will not have any sores at all if you choose to stop sending negative thoughts and feelings to yourself.

You begin to think about how good it would feel to habitually send yourself loving thoughts instead of hateful ones. Inwardly you smile, and as you do, the angel hands you a beautiful red rose.  You accept if with delight and breathe in its sweet fragrance as you gently turn the stem in your hands. As you continue to roll the stem between your fingers, you are surprised to notice that the thorns do not hurt you at all. 

The beautiful angel then says, “My dear child, the reason you do not feel the thorns is because you are focusing so much on the fragrance of the rose that you have temporarily managed to block out any sensation of pain.  If you will think of this in relation to your life, you can see that when you focus on the positive aspects of your personality, then it will be easier to ignore your perceived imperfections.  Whenever you find that you are beating up on yourself, just recall these visualizations and remember to focus on the beauty of your soul.  Train your mind to send love to yourself instead of pain and negativity and soon you will see beauty where you once noticed flaws.