Self Compassion
Our focus this week — Dec 10-16: “Compassion”
Today’s MotD: Self Compassion. Probably the most challenging form of compassion is self compassion. It’s fascinating how we can so readily understand others’ situations and foibles but tend to shut down when it comes to anpplying to ourselves. Why is that ? I’m sure it has something to do with self-worth issues.
Or we have this false sense that everything we do has to be perfect, that we have to BE perfect, anything less than that, we figure no one will understand, they’ll think less of us, and so on. That feeds into the “not enough” BS most of us carry around in our psyche.
Ok. Enough of that. From this day forward, we’re encouraged to give the same amount (if not more) of understanding and compassion to ourselves as we would give to others. I know…easier said than done. YET…with practice, maybe even baby steps, we can begin to make headway towards cutting ourselves more slack.
I know for me, being wrong about something or being told I did something wrong, still triggers all of the above. Unbeknownst to me (at least consciously), at a very early age I took on my father’s issues around being wrong. Not once in the decades I’ve known him as he ever admitted that he was wrong about something. I know because for years I made it a point to point out when he was wrong (what a lovely daughter I am), and even then he wouldn’t admit it. I’ll at least admit when I’m wrong…some times begrudgingly, other times, though, I get so triggered that I’m not able to admit it in that moment. Afterwards, when I’ve cooled down (returned to sanity), I can do so from a gentler perspective.
My issue with being wrong is that I have this deeply entrenched belief that I must “be a bad person” if I’m wrong or it’s “bad” (really, bad) if I’m wrong. I’ll get in trouble, I’ll be laughed at, I’ll be perceived as stupid, or no one will like/love me if I’m wrong…I have to be perfect…all the time! What a crock of shite, right ?
I guess by now it’s obvious that I could use some self compassion right about now. In workshopping with the DeepSeek AI just now, I asked it for some simple ideas towards implementing self compassion. Here’s the summary it gave me:
Treat yourself with the same slightly detached, pragmatic, and mildly amused kindness you might extend to a coworker you like but aren’t super close to. You wouldn’t berate them for a typo; you’d just point it out so they can fix it. You wouldn’t let them skip lunch; you’d say, “You should probably eat.” Keep it practical, keep it light, and focus on the action, not the feeling. The feeling of self-compassion often follows the behavior; you don’t have to feel warm and fuzzy to act in a kinder way toward yourself.
How about you ? Do you find it easier to show compassion to others than to yourself ? Do you tend to be much harder on yourself than you are on others ? What would it take for you to be kinder and lighter with yourself ?
BTW…Here’s the before…the front and back view of today’s puzzle piece and the pretty ceramic box that holds all my numbers from which I randomly choose each day’s puzzle piece number:
Peace & Blessings,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
🔆 transforming soul whispers into mandalas and channeled messages
ABOUT THE 2025 Mandalas of the Day
Throughout the year, I’ll be building one large (48”x48”) Tibetan-styled Mandala one piece at a time…one puzzle piece at a time, that is. The mandala design and the reversed puzzle side were printed on artist-quality watercolor paper. The forward facing puzzle side was printed on a 48”x48” wood panel.
Each day, at random, I’ll be painting in watercolors one of the 365 watercolor puzzle pieces, that by the end of the year will become Archangel Mandala #4. Read more about the Archangel Series. The word/message for each piece will be inspired by Melody Beattie’s book “52 Weeks of Conscious Contact”.
Ultimately, the message of this mandala is about how we are all uniquely part of the one.
Mandala of the Day 