Grant Yourself Some Grace
"If anyone talked to you like you talked to you, you wouldn't be their friend." - Shawn Wells as heard on Intelligence for Your Life
I am a victim of negative self-talk.
In the past, I've spoken to myself in ways that I would never talk to my worst enemy. I've psychologically punished myself for small mistakes such as missing a note, being late, asking a question, and even how I've introduced myself to others. In the end, I struggled to see myself as a valuable and meaningful human being capable of doing something that mattered. I engaged in self-pity. I was not empathetic with myself and stunted my growth.
To be empathetic is to be able to put yourself in someone else's shoes. To be able to see and accept their present - their truth. To not try and solve the problems of another, but be able to say, "Yes, I see how this could be a difficult time for you. Thanks for letting me know. I'm here for you."
I still suffer from negative self-talk. Who doesn't? But, I've made changes to how I listen to myself.
I get outdoors, meditate, read, and do all I can to be present with myself. Doing this allows me to see my world for what it is, and not what I think it "should" be.
I am self-accountable. The impact others have on my life is nothing more than something "I" need to resolve within myself, not something that "someone else" needs to fix.
I gift myself with grace. I thank myself, and the world, for the opportunity to be present and grow.
Grace is, among many things, your ability to show appreciation and acceptance for another and yourself. It is a word for being empathetic and thankful. It's challenging to have gratitude for something you can't see. Being empathetic enables your ability to see to present. Grace is your ability to be thankful for it.
The difficulty in being thankful for mistakes, tragedy, heartbreak, and crushed dreams can't be measured. But, it becomes less so when you can learn to see what happened, how it impacted you, and how you can grow from the experience.
The power of being able to see, and being thankful for that ability, plays out in a simple sentence I say to myself when things go wrong now:
"Things didn't go the way I hoped. I'm thankful. I'm thankful because I can grow and do better next time."
Grant Yourself Some Grace.
See and accept your truth.
Be thankful to grow.
