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Today's
Meditation:
It's
certainly easy to relate to Dwight's statement-- it seems
that most of us have more trouble with ourselves than with
anyone else. We criticize ourselves, we get angry
with ourselves, we make choices and decisions that hurt
ourselves; in short, we often don't treat ourselves very
well at all. And through all this, we rarely focus
on treating ourselves well by forgiving ourselves, having
compassion with ourselves, understanding ourselves, or
giving ourselves a break.
There's
really no need for all of this, and it's a shame that so
many of us treat ourselves in the ways that we do.
It's easy for us to say that everyone on the planet is
worthy of our love and respect, but then turn around and
treat ourselves with almost none of either. It's
easy for us to say that we're "looking out for number
one," but that type of attitude tends to have more to
do with material goods than with spiritual or emotional
needs.
It's
also important to keep in mind that when we have trouble
with ourselves, we're virtually guaranteeing that we're
going to have trouble with other people. We can only
give to others what we're willing to give ourselves, after
all, and if we give ourselves troubles, we're setting
ourselves up for problems with others.
If
someone is kind and compassionate to me, then I almost
never have trouble with that person. If I'm kind and
compassionate to myself, then how difficult it will be to
have trouble with myself! And I'm worth my own
kindness and compassion.
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