I’ve been thinking about, and this seems funny to even have to say, but I want to say,

“Be kind to yourself. Be a good friend to yourself. Practice self-compassion.”

It seems like this should be a no-brainer. Like of course we would be kind to ourselves. But I don’t think we are usually.

Like I’ve mentioned in my last post, we tend to beat ourselves up. We tend to be hard on ourselves. We tend to expect a lot of ourselves. We often “should of” ourselves. “I should have done better. I should be further along. I shouldn’t still be struggling with this.” Instead of being kind, practicing self-compassion, and taking good care of ourselves, and celebrating and loving well who we are.

Not in a prideful, conceited way. In a I want to do my internal work and be in a good place so that I have something to offer others.

I read that, “we cannot give someone else what we don’t have.” This makes total sense if you are talking about a physical item, like food or clothing or money. But what if we are talking about love, kindness, compassion, being generous, non-judgmental, and trustworthy.

We must first BE loving, kind, compassionate, non-judgmental, trustworthy with ourselves if we want to offer them to others.

I believe we must trust God to cultivate these things in us as we know and rest in His love for us, as we are.

We need to take care of ourselves, do our internal work, take responsibility for ourselves, so that we can show up well for others. So, we can offer them love and kindness from a good wholesome place without expectations and without wanting them to change.

We have this one life, our one body we’ve been given, our oneself with all our gifts and talents as well as our imperfections.

Let’s be a good friend to ourselves so we can be a good friend to others!

I think this all begins with our thinking! We can start by thinking new thoughts about ourselves. We can tell ourselves a new story about our life, about our circumstances. We choose what we make it all mean with our thoughts.

So, let’s begin by thinking kind, loving, compassionate, accepting what is thoughts.

And be gracious to ourselves since we are human. We will make mistakes. We are all students of life doing the best we can.

As we accept what is and realize “this is all part of it” then we will show up better, with love and kindness and being gracious to ourselves and others.

A practice – when you feel overwhelmed or stressed or anxious or you notice you are being unkind to yourself… take a few deep breaths. Box breathe, inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, count for 4, repeat. Do this 3-5 times.

A practice – stand up tall, should back, chin up, slight smile, and think a nice thought about yourself. Observe yourself kindly.

You can do this throughout your day as needed.

And pray – talk to God about everything! Practice going to Him first with whatever you are feeling, asking for His help to move through it, asking for His peace.

Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always. Philippians 4:6-8 TPT

Keep seeking and discovering God’s Way!