Do you struggle with anger? You could be battling a lack of compassion towards yourself or others. I’d love to know a way you show compassion towards yourself in the comments below.
When we demonstrate self compassion we treat ourselves the way we treat someone we truly love.
Compassion comes from understanding that people aren’t perfect and they are going to make mistakes. Self compassion means giving ourselves the grace to be allowed to make mistakes.
As parents when we take care of our kids, we make sure their bodies get the things they need to work well. we can demonstrate self compassion by giving our bodies the things they need such as additional sleep, movement, real foods and time for real meals, etc. I remember the first time I really started practicing this. I thought if my kid had an allergy I would make sure they got the food that they needed to make her body work well. As someone who often eats poorly on the run, I realized I needed to give my own body the same time and attention.
Another way to show compassion to yourself is to let yourself be a learner. People who are learning are allowed to work at something for a while before expecting themselves to be great at it.
Finally, I want to challenge you to think about having compassion for the way you talk to yourself. As I work with many people in the counseling office, their self talk is very critical.
Today, try instead of demanding more of yourself or judging something you have thought or done, allowing yourself to just be you – becoming the best person you can be.
Dr Kristin Neff is a researcher out of Austin and has great information regarding self compassion if you want to learn more.
Praying that your day will be filled with peace and compassion for yourself and others as you breathe deeply and take 2021 one day at a time.
