I have noticed something about myself that I find very distressing. I am not very kind to myself. Specifically, I have a lot of internal negative self-talk. Last week after some particularly harsh criticisms of myself I realized that if anyone else had said such negative things to me I would be extremely hurt. In fact, that person would not be someone I would ever want to spend time with.
We all understand the importance of kindness but most of us focus on kindness to others.
(I recently wrote this post about kindness to others.) Many of us practice a double standard where we are kind to everyone else but we beat ourselves up. With all of our responsibilities and all of the obstacles we face we often forget to take care of ourselves and that tolerance and understanding for ourselves is even more important than that we give outwardly to others. Allowing our inner critic to be cruel, particularly, when it is not offering anything constructive leads to a loss of confidence, motivation, and perspective.
Since I have realized that self care is an important part of stress management and the frequency of my tendency to be so down on myself now anytime I begin having negative self-talk I stop and ask myself if someone I cared about was in my shoes would I be saying the same thing to them. The answer is almost always no. Our confidence takes enough hits from sources beyond our control that we do not need to contribute to it with feelings of negative self worth.
This week let's be a little kinder to ourselves by stopping the negative self-talk. Do not say anything to yourself that you would not say to someone you love. Look for the value in where you are now in life and accept that it is okay to be exactly where you are. Be patient with yourself and look for positive ways to make changes. Realize that mistakes are a part of life and that you deserve to be forgiven for any mistakes you make.
I think that we will find that being more compassionate to ourselves will lead to us living a better quality of life and therefore also affect our ability to contribute to the happiness of others.
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Such an inspiring post. Really enjoyed reading it!
ReplyDeleteSandy L. @ boutique-amuse.blgospot.com
This really resonates with me - I am far and away my harshest critic and most of the time its unnecessary and unnecessarily harsh...
ReplyDeleteCourtney ~ Sartorial Sidelines
Totally agree on what you said in the post, still i think that sometimes self criticism is inevitable, even if unnecessary...
ReplyDeleteLuckily, these are just moments!
xxx
S
http://s-fashion-avenue.blogspot.it
If you don't take the time out for yourself sometimes, you won't be able to give yourself in helping others to your full potential either. Everyone needs love and care and to be taken care of!! It's super important xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to stop negative thinking about yourself. It seems so simple, but effective. Have a great Monday!
ReplyDeleteLori
Sometimes we are definitely our own worst critic!
ReplyDeletexo, Yi-chia
Always Maylee
You are right, we can be our own worst enemies sometimes! But now that you have identified that then you can start changing it. :-)
ReplyDeleteJayme & Mendi @ Her Late Night Cravings
I love this post and am going to work harder on being kind to myself and less critical. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteseem like we all are hard on our self
ReplyDeletegreat post tracy! I am going through similar issues and can often be my own worst critic. it's definitely true that it's important to love ourselves first. hope this week is better for you!
ReplyDelete-- jackie - jade and oak
we often are hardest on ourselves... things others don't even notice we worry about.
ReplyDeleteWe do need to be kinder to ourselves. This was a beautiful post. So many are too hard on themselves. I use to be that way. Constantly beat myself up until I was defeated. We have to learn not to do that.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.averysweetblog.com/