A start to self compassion.
“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”- Buddha
We all grew up watching and listening to these Bollywood songs and movies, where love was unceasingly personified and exalted, and we were beyond intrigued.
We were told that we would meet someone …someday …
And then boom! A magic would happen, and our life will never be the same again... :)
This dreamy creature would be able to make us feel complete, bring happiness and hope.
This change is only possible through ‘the one’.
And…as they enter our life.
We would become WHOLE, as if we are half /incomplete/ empty/we are not even human without our partners.
And so knowingly or unknowingly we spent days waiting for that someone.. . .
Only for some of us , the realization eventually began to take place that perhaps “THE ONE’’ is no one else but “YOU”.
Yes, that person who has always been there for you in nights and days galore, ‘the one’ who got up on their feet after that failure, ‘the one’ that supported you in your most difficult days, ‘the one’ that gave you the strength to get up from the pain and the hurt that could have easily crumbled you , or even from those nights when you could barely sleep.
For it is the only ‘ONE’ that needs to be honored and loved …first and foremost.
However, this person is also the one that has faced years of self criticism.
Some of these self critical statements sounds like-
‘you aren’t good enough’
‘you are so stupid’
‘you’ll never amount to anything’
It is also ‘the one’ who has very carelessly and ceaselessly given their heart to someone who couldn’t give it the love that it so rightfully deserved, and it is also the one who doesn’t think they are good enough or worthy enough of happiness, love or success.
We at Manasija- Mann Se, are here to remind you that love, happiness and success are your very birthright, and all of us deserve to benefit from the wonders and beauty that are a part of this world and a part of our own being :)
So how do we turn the wheels ?
Self love sounds as a very lofty goal, and it may even sound wishy washy and perplexing to most of us.
That’s why, I always say, start with self compassion, a compassion which will slowly evolve into love, and this kind of love that would be larger and far more beautiful than anything else.
Self compassion is being kind and loving towards your own self, your sufferings, your mistakes and things which you perhaps hate about yourself.
It means-
Care for yourself, just as you would care for your own child.
Our self critical voice may scream at us for all the things we are and we are not, and this voice is rude and harsh.
Would you talk to your child the same way, as you do with yourself?
As Zen master and global spiritual leader ,Thich Nhat Hanh says-
“We all have a child within ourselves that is worthy of being treated with love and self compassion.”
So be kind towards it, towards the mistakes you made in the past, towards all that makes ‘you’→‘You’.
To understand, what would a more compassionate voice say to the mistakes you made?
It would say-
*Did you know any better?
*You didn’t have all the facts in front of you before you made that decision ?
*How could you have known? Can we forgive ourselves?
And as Oprah sums up it up very well,
“Now that you know better ! You do better!”
:) It is as simple as that !
We sincerely hope that is betterment for you ….starts with self compassion! :)
