Be Kind to yourself (continued)

The above image is a passage taken from a book that really resonates with me. I have written a piece entitled ‘Be Kind To Yourself’ before, but I don’t feel as though it is a topic that can be exhausted. It is too important and, in my opinion, not spoken about enough.

The passage focuses on a different aspect of self love than the ones I have covered previously. This is about the standards you hold yourself to and the self loathing you can experience if you fall short. Although I am a big believer in expecting the best from yourself, it is important to take stock of what you have achieved, rather than focus on what you still have left to do.

When we set goals for ourselves, it is common to constantly be working towards, and thus focusing our attention on, the bigger picture or the end result. By doing this we often disregard the smaller achievements we have made along the way. No big move is made in one leap, it is an amalgamation of many small steps that we have had to take to get there.

More to the point, if we make a misstep along the way to what we want IT IS OKAY. As the passage states, not every single thing you do has dire consequences. All your hard work is not undone by one mistake. You can try to be a better person or follow a certain lifestyle without it encompassing everything you say or do or feel. Life does not have to be so polarised. It isn’t all or nothing, be proud of yourself for doing something in the first place, plenty of other people will have done less than that I can assure you!

I would also urge people to remember that your life and the journey you take is personal. It can not and should not be compared to anyone else’s, no two lives are the same, not even siblings’, not even twins’. As such we need to judge ourselves, our actions, our feelings, our pace against ourselves. Self improvement is the most important aspect to put your effort into, no matter what that means. For some, improving themselves would be to learn a new language for others it would be to adopt a plant based diet and for others still it would be to become more politically active.

These three people cannot judge their own journeys against each other, they are not the same. But what they can do is make sure they praise themselves for each of the steps they take along the way to their bigger goals. A month without meat is great, but just because you discovered you need to keep eggs or dairy for the time being doesn’t mean you have failed, you are still doing something.

If we make every small step a win rather than a sign that we still have far to go it will make achieving the end result a lot easier. In many cases it would improve our experiences of the journeys themselves. Be understanding, be patient and be kind to yourself, life is no fun otherwise.

Let me know what you think on the topic.

I’m back form my holiday now so intend on uploading a lot more frequently,

see you soon,

J