Are you being gentle with yourself?
Being gentle with Our Self isn’t something that comes easily to most people. Almost naturally, we tend to find fault in ourselves instead of seeing the good in what we do throughout the day – it’s just human nature. What if we could change this pattern? How much better could we feel?
Today I am just back from a two week trek around Florida and I’m feeling a little guilt and shame that I didn’t get more of my homework done while traveling. As I sit here writing for my project report due in a few hours, I find I’m beating myself up with all sorts of negative self talk like “you weren’t disciplined enough”, you didn’t take your commitment to school seriously enough, you’re a sham, you’re disorganized, you didn’t keep your commitments to yourself, you’re not capable or deserving of success, you’re not living in integrity” and the list goes on.
I am always amazed with how quickly my Inner Roommate in my head can rattle off the “You’re NOT Enough” messages and how quickly I can buy in hook, line and sinker into the belief that I truly suck at life! After a few minutes of feeling defeated, feeling a pit in my stomach and feeling like giving up, I am now able to change the story, which is new for me. You see, this has been the story of my life, the reason why I choose to play small and the reason why I don’t accomplish so many of the amazing things my soul came here to do. And why is this? Because my old self lives by the voice of my Inner Roommate, afraid of success, afraid to be seen and afraid that it really is true that I am not enough to make my dreams come true. My old self is afraid to shine my light and show up in the world because deep down inside she believes that little voice in my head that keeps me company even when uninvited.
So, you ask, this sounds good but how do I do this? How do I change the story so I can move out of fear and into freedom? It’s really quite simple. I take some deep breaths. With my eyes closed, I take in 4 breaths each to the count of 4. Then I ask myself, what is the real truth here? I listen to my little one inside, I listen to messages from God and Spirit and I am amazed with how simply the truth comes up. It’s that easy, truly.
Today, the story I was telling myself was one of gloom and despair, a story of defeat, a story that I might as well give up before I even started. Then I looked for the truth and this is what I was told. “The truth is that you were doing exactly what you were supposed to be doing. You were connecting with family; you were helping others to heal while healing yourself. You were giving a 100-year-old aunt a reason to keep up the good fight. You were enjoying life, you were playing, and you were experiencing joy and feeding your soul instead of focusing on the goal line of life 24/7. You were living, loving and laughing – YOU FELT ALIVE.” And the truth is I can get this work done, no problem, even with a distraction of writing a quick blog, life doesn’t need to be as hard as my Inner Roommate wants to make it!
So I ask you, what story is your Inner Roommate telling you today? Are you ready to stop the head talk and start living the truth? The truth is that you are amazing, you are gifted, you are capable, you are loveable, you are enough and you are free to live the life you want to live. The truth is that you can stop the patterns of beating yourself up and start celebrating you today. Be gentle with yourself; listen to your heart instead of that little voice in your head. Live in the knowing that life is short and yours to enjoy. Be gentle, be kind and celebrate the True meaning to why you do what you do.
This life is yours, be gentle with yourself…you so deserve it!