"The kind of compulsive concern with "I, me, and mine" isn't the same as loving ourselves...Loving ourselves points us to capacities of resilience, compassion, and understanding within that are simply part of being alive."
Sharon Salzberg
The month of April is set aside for me to come to grips with self-compassion. As I become more mindful I am more aware of the self-talk going on in my head. Often I talk to myself with negative, disparaging words. Do I need self-compassion in order to quiet my mind?
I would like to investigate what it is but first I will set aside what is is not.
- Self-compassion is not self-indulgence. It is not destructive. It seeks to find happiness and health.
- Self-compassion is not the same as self-esteem. You don't need to feel better than others to feel good about yourself.
- Self-compassion is not dependent on someone else's approval. As self-clarity emerges, personal failings can be acknowledged with kindness and do not need to be hidden.
Someone once said to me that Jesus never spoke about loving ourselves. But, I thought to myself, he did speak about loving our neighbor as ourselves. Perhaps he was inferring that to love our neighbor we had to start with self-kindness, like a well in which to draw respect and love for others.
Next week more about how to practice.
More mindfulness Monday posts here.
This is from 7 Things Mindful People Do Differently written by Elisha Goldstein from mindful.org. " A repeated practice of intentionally paying attention to ourselves with a curious and caring attention sends the message to our brain that we're worth caring about."
ReplyDeleteI’ve been thinking about this too. I realise I’ve had a lot of negative self-talk going on. It seems much easier to be kind to others than to myself sometimes. I agree that it’s not about pride or self-indulgence though- it’s seeing ourselves as God sees us and that will enable us to love others better.
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