Love, respect, resilience… what’s that?
‘There is a natural law of abundance which pervades the entire universe,
but it will not flow through a door of belief in lack and limitation.’
– Paul Zaiter
Welcome to our Unit on Self-Compassion! This month we are reading Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer’s books on Mindful Self-Compassion and my all-time favorite, The Soul of Money by Lynn Twist. They are both excellent. If this is a month you have time, I recommend you enjoy both books.
We talked a bit about Mindful Self-compassion earlier in the year. This month we want to use it in the context of the abundance given to us by the all-sustaining power of God. How do we accept and even expect abundance within our Creator’s Universe?
One way is with Self-Compassion. When we open ourselves to loving kindness from self, we open ourselves to knowing our Creator better. I heard the scripture, “As I have loved you….” Recently. When I heard it, my quiet inner voice finished the sentence, “As I have loved you, love yourself.” It took me by surprised and felt a little selfish, but I could feel the truth in it.
The companion scripture in this situation for me is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you are routinely unkind to yourself, that’s the kind of neighbor you will easily default to. Our inner critic voices are also the voices we use to judge our neighbors. If we respond to ourselves with loving kindness or learn to love ourselves the way our Creator loves us, we will be much better neighbors, parents, sisters, and friends.
Be mindful of your thoughts this week. What do they say? Do they mirror the thoughts our Creator has for you? Are they thoughts of hope and resilience, forgiveness and love? Because, my friend, they could be. And then, what amazing neighbors we could be!
This week let’s practice monitoring and replacing our thoughts using Mindful Self-Compassion. Try these out this week:
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I am an important part of creation. What I do and say has a great impact on the world. (Remember those ripples you create!)
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Suffering is normal, what I choose to do with it is not. I choose joy and learning.
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I am actively pursuing joy.
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I am a precious gift to those around me.