So we started the week with forgiveness, and now we do a Fri-Fri-dance-shimmy for this lovely act of open-heartedness that does so much for us.
Last time, I talked about forgiveness towards others. Today, let’s turn the multi-hued disco lights on ourselves.
Have you ever actually noticed how long you take to move on from a mistake/misgiving/falling short/demonstration of “it wasn’t my most shining moment on Planet Earth”?
For a lot of us, if and when we get pulled up for having done something wrong, or if we know in our hearts that we did wrong by someone else and we’re racked with guilt/shame over it, we run a tape in our minds that goes: “That was embarrassing/mean/insensitive of me. I can’t believe I did that. I should have known better. I could’ve avoided that. What a silly thing to do. Now I have to fix it. Now they think I’m a first class chicken nugget from the frozen section of the supermarket. Nice on the outside, trash on the inside”.
Harsh. Isn’t it?
The next time we do something that doesn’t quite meet our perfectionist standards, or if we feel foolish and embarrassed about an action or choice, let’s smile sympathetically at ourselves and be kind: “Oops, I made a mistake- sigh. Oh well, it happens. I feel bad, but I’ll try better next time. It’s why I’m human, man. And, tomorrow’s never far away to start all over again. New day, new page, new space :)”
And once we give ourselves more space to make mistakes and learn, the more we can then hone our compassion for others—because what you give to yourself, you’re able to shower in spades to others 🙂
