KINDNESS IS BADASS
IN A WORLD WHERE YOU CAN BE ANYTHING...
BE KIND
People who have greater levels of self-compassion tend to be more motivated, less lazy, and more successful over time. But just as important, they like themselves, even when they fall short.
They still recognize where they might have gone wrong, but rather than getting caught up in self-blame and judgement, they learn from the experience and adapt…change their course for the next time.
We understand kindness from the perspective of how we treat our family and friends. So, what if we were to take that same approach to how we treat ourselves? How would our health improve if we listened to our body’s signals and the noise from our minds, and responded with care and compassion?
We hear a lot in the media these days about the importance of being kind to each other.
This message is especially relevant in these strange times. It’s all too easy to become impatient and frustrated by the actions of others as we go about the daily business of dealing with this protracted period of challenge and uncertainty.
We’re all probably guilty of wasting emotional energy on anger or anxiety in recent months. We see people sharing opinions that contradict our own or behaving in ways we can’t relate to. It’s all too easy to get upset.
But in these modern times when we’ve seen so much unpredicted change, we’re perhaps not entirely unfamiliar with the concept of kindness.
Maybe, when we calm ourselves and take a moment to stop, think, and breathe, we can recognize how we’re all in this together and we’re all doing our best.
On a good day we can see the value in just letting potential disagreements pass by without having to react negatively. After all most of us can accept that reacting badly doesn’t really achieve anything or do us any good.
But what about the anger or disappointment we regularly direct towards ourselves?
Extending ourselves the same kindness and understanding we might show to others is often an alien concept, as we push ourselves to do better and chastise ourselves for any perceived failings.
Why do we find it easier to accept other people’s limitations than our own?
The fact is I’ve seen people turn their emotional wellbeing and mental health around purely by deciding to stop beating themselves up.
You can get to the other side of anxiety issues largely by choosing to always be kind to yourself, no matter what challenges life throws my way or how I respond to them.
In what ways do you beat yourself up?
In what way will you change that?
IN A WORLD WHERE YOU CAN BE ANYTHING...
We really need more kindness in the world, especially right now.
Many are struggling to fight their way through.
But all too often we put our focus on displaying kindness to others and completely forget to extend ourselves the same courtesy.
Negative comments and an unkind attitude towards us can do a huge amount of damage to our self-esteem. And for all those people who have criticized you in the past, the one person who has treated you the worst is most likely you.
Nobody talks to you the way that you talk to yourself.
Yes, the negative self-image may have started with the way you were treated by others, but then it was YOU that took that opinion as true and began to repeat it to yourself over and over. Whether you realize it or not...your subconscious heard it each time.
Do yourself a favor today...
Decide to only talk to yourself with positive words of encouragement and love.
Decide to focus your attention on all those simple things that you do right every single day. You know... the stuff you have taken for granted and have actually stopped noticing.
And when you do something wrong today (because we ALL will at some point) make a conscious decision to SKIP the part where you beat yourself up and go straight to the part where you LEARN something and move forward more knowledgeable and more resourceful.
This small upgrade in your thinking applied consistently and repeatedly might make a bigger change in the way you feel than you would expect.
You only have one mind for the rest of your life.
Treat it with kindness. First and foremost.
You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your kindness and affection.
YES, Kindness is Badass…always