One more tip to keep you emotionally well in turbulent times. Now, I bet a lot of you are helpers and givers, and you have a profession. You have a calling.
You have an urge to help people feel good and you naturally feel compassionate towards other people. But today I want to talk about self-compassion. Self-compassion.
That means being gentle with yourself. That means being as nice to yourself as you would to somebody that you really, really care about. That means being as nice to yourself as you would want someone else to be to your mother or child or grandchild or somebody that you love.
Now imagine if somebody that you love was being talked to in a way that was very discompassionate. Is that even a word? Discompassionate? Uncompassionate? Well you know what I mean, in a way that was rude and mean, would you stand for that? Hell no.
You would do something. You would stand up for them. You would be an advocate for them just like you are for your patients and customers and people that you care about.
Now think about the last time you were harsh with yourself maybe you called yourself stupid or dumb or lazy or clumsy or forgetful. This is not self-compassion and folks the world, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, is a tough enough place with everything that’s going on out there.
It’s a tough enough place, especially now. Why would we not want to be compassionate with ourselves? Especially when we’re doing so much for other people all the time. Hey, give yourselves a break every now and again.
Be gentle with yourself. Give yourself a pat on the back. Give yourself a hug. Ask for kudos every now and again when you do something and say, Hey, I wouldn’t mind a pat on the back, I wouldn’t mind a standing ovation, I wouldn’t mind somebody just letting me know I’m on the right track here.
Self-compassion. Give it to yourself. Ask for what you need. It is another way to be emotionally well in turbulent times and you deserve that.
