The gift of self-compassion

In Self-compassion, the lifelong gift from you to yourself, Padraig O’Morain writes:

…we generally find it easier to accept our virtues than our faults! But since we stumble and make mistakes all the time, we are going to feel a lot better if we can accept our faults as well … And it doesn’t have to be an excuse for being slovenly, lazy, irresponsible and so on: it’s about being an accepting and understanding friend to yourself.”

If you find yourself having thoughts about your faults, mistakes you’ve made or things you could have done better, follow this advice from Padraig:

…pause and ask yourself: ‘Who is talking now, good friend or harsh critic?’ If it’s the good friend, listen. If it’s the harsh critic ask, ‘What would a good friend say?’ and then listen to that.”

For more help on being self-compassionate:

• Follow Kirsten Neff’s guided meditation on affectionate breathing from the Befriend yourself pebble.
• Try some of the practices from Padraig’s article.