Lesons in Compassion

Once a month I told myself,

that's not too much to expect,

surely............

 

I thought I had November and December all sewn up,

2 guest posts that I could do flash links and 'button-thingies' for,

show off my new techie skills...........

"Seeds of Change"

I managed a couple of blog posts and then hit the wall.
Seems droughts don't just hit this "Wide Brown Land" that I live in,
they hit my "Big Blogging Plans" too.

 

                                "Bwhhhaaaa" roared my Inner Critic/Gremlin, Mr Gibblewort!

I had so many issues trying to do a button in the side bar for the Genuine You class post recently,

that Gibblewort had a fine ole time in my head.

It took a lot of guts to let go of the Perfectionist whom lives inside of me,

pull up my Big-Girl-Undies that I learnt all about in another course,

(save this for another day)

and finally decide to press the dreaded publish button after my self-imposed deadline,

with the linking buttons not working!!!

 

 

 

Oh, MY Gibblewort did his "you failed" happy jig all around me
 as I sat dejected as my self-imposed deadline ticked over....

I went through the typical litany of  "what was I thinking?"

"how could I expect to learn all of these blogging tricks so quickly?"

"You are letting down your readers..........."

yadda yadda yadda..............

 

You get the general idea.

But I am so proud of myself.

After a bit of self-reflection,

I put things into perspective,

as I say to my kids, "Have you broken any bones?  Did anyone die? No? Well...............?"

Yes, Melissa, take a sip of your own medicine, WELL??????????
 

 

See, the world didn't end because I missed a self-imposed deadline.

Who knew about this but me?

(and now you)

No-one.

Just Me, my most harshest critic.

 

 

I think we all run the same hamster wheel.

We put unrealistic expectations on ourselves,

all self-imposed.

And when "life" gets in the way,

 we come down on ourselves like a tonne of bricks,

flailing the cat-of-nine-tails around like our back is made of rock, not flesh.

 We eagerly show Love and Compassion in truck-loads for our family,

our friends,
our pets, 

even total strangers whom we watch on the news,
 but will never meet.

But, do we show similar depths of compassion for the most important person in our lives?

Our Self?

 

 

Each time life presents a challenge, no matter how big or small,

no matter how life altering, or just moment altering,

we can choose.

 

 

I can choose.

Do I stop?

Do I take a DEEP BREATH?

Do I take a moment to reflect?

To be mindful?
To soften?

To be compassionate.................to Me?

 

 

This is one of the lessons life keeps presenting to me over and over again,

I must need extra time to learn this one.

But each time I face this lesson,

and remember............

 

Remember to be kind,

to be gentle,

to be loving,

to be compassionate with my Self.

 

Each time I re-learn, I don't just run around and around in that same hamster wheel.

I move a little forward on the spiral-like journey of learning.

I move a little closer to showing Compassion for myself more often.

I move a little closer to showing Love.