The root of compassion for others is compassion for yourself.
Most, if not all of us suffer from an inner voice that is harsh and critical. It sounds like an angry parent. When we make a mistake we might hear ‘Well, if you were paying attention, that would not have happened”.
“Right,” we think, I wasn’t paying attention and the spiral goes down hill from there. It hard to look around at social media and see all these apparently happy, successful people, knowing I’m not that. But how could everyone be in a glorious halo of goodness and success ?
The thing is: when the inner chatter makes us feel awful, we feel awful about feeling awful.
The guilt of not being able to maintain a sunny facade and cheerfully face nasty situations at work, traffic jams and health crises increases the opportunity to feel inadequate and less than others. However, being pressured to act successful when that isn’t real for us, increases the urgency to be immune to the “troubles’.
When we gentle that whole thing down saying : “ Ok, I’m unhappy and that’s ok for today’
I love the one who is struggling with this. It is good that I am looking at and dealing with this issue. Then, once the situation as it is, is accepted your body gives you a chance to relax a bit and rest. “I’m a miserable so and so today, and you know what, that’s ok for today.
A person who accepts these passing thunderstorms as temporary, but none the less real is less likely to oppress others or take a bad mood out on the innocent. You own it, it’s your state and your responsibility. And this too will pass.class="Apple-converted-space">
Note to people : This product was serendipitous, came out of thin air one morning. It is amazing that when people choose their item, they are fierce in their choice. For some "comfort" will resonate, for others do what you will but be kind and centered.