The hardest lesson I’ve ever learned?
How to be kind to myself
For countless years, I’ve lived in my head and said things like:
You suck at golf.
They won’t like you.
You’re not a real author.
You’re not good enough.
You’re never going to make it.
Nobody is going to listen to that.
You’re not as good as your brother.
(This is the PG version). I used a lot of harsher words.
Terrible, nasty things that you’d never say to a friend but were commonplace in my day-to-day.
Until I committed to change it in 2024.
I focused on being kinder with my words and telling myself I’m proud of the work I’ve done.
I never realized how hard this would be because we can be our own worst enemies. We need to accept that first and start to shift the “self-talk” in a positive direction.
Being kind frees us from needing to be perfect.
Could we be better? Sure. But, what about applauding ourselves for how much we’ve grown so far. To love ourselves for who we are today. To accept the whole thing. The good and the bad.
That’s unconditional love.
We always want to have that with somebody else.
Why don’t we start with ourselves first?