Advice|Inspiration|Personal Growth
Don’t Be Shoulding On Yourself
Self bashing gets you nowhere fast
Several years ago, frustrated, I threw myself across my bed. I had done something — for the umpteenth time — that was in poor character. I chided myself,
“I should be much better, by now!”
“What’s wrong with me?”
While lying there, I sensed an immediate inner response. You can label it God, intuition, higher self, or whatever you prefer. The message was the same.
“I’m not going to talk to you about what’s wrong with you.” The ‘voice’ continued, “I want to focus on what’s right with you.”
Many of us value self-criticism. This quality, in our opinion, is a powerful testament to the moral characteristics of honesty, responsibility, and integrity. We see self-criticism as a necessary step towards growth and progress.
We tell ourselves that becoming better people requires that we go boldly inward, scrutinize our weaknesses, and own up to them.
However, relevant research is telling a different story:
Instead of being honest with ourselves, our inner critics may be placing uncompromising demands upon our shoulders. Prodding for increasingly higher improvement and performance.
