Day 6 - Be kind to yourself.

When I read the deed of the day I stayed staring at the words, "be kind to yourself." Since I was a little girl I always understood the importance of kindness, but kindness in my eyes was always being kind to others, never did I step back and think about kindness towards myself. I thought about how it feels to be kind - the type of emotions  that surge within you when you are considering another person; care and gentleness, and then I thought to myself that I don't often feel those types of emotions when it came to dealing with myself. In fact, I think I am harder on myself than anyone else and I believe we are all like that on ourselves.

What's the first thing that came to my mind when I thought about being kind to myself? Going shopping, taking a vacation or maybe even just an unexpected, relaxing day in the beach? They are all considered being kind to yourself right? Yes, of course these are all ways you can be kind to yourself but I don't believe they are the most important. Maybe I took the deed a little too in depth but the nerd in me loves getting new ideas and researching so that's exactly what I did and when I googled "being in kind to yourself" most of what came up wasn't materialistic and/or vacations, it was more about the way you treat yourself. In example, being patient with oneself, encouraging ourselves, forgiving ourselves, treating yourself to things you enjoy, listening to yourself, and the list goes on. I also learned that it's been proven that the secret to success is in fact being kind to yourself.
Today I went to the beach with a good friend and while laying out and I decided to reflect on what I learned on how to be kinder to myself.

• Patience ♥ -  Remind yourself that some days you will be better than others, some days your practice will be stronger than others and stop competing with yourself. Impatience has a tendency to lead towards decreased self-esteem and a bad mood in general, it makes you want to achieve things right at that moment and if you don't you feel discouraged and like you'll never be able to do it. Everything wasn't built over night, stay patient and you will be sure to have more peace in your life. Don't be so hard on yourself.
• Encourage Myself ♥ - I am the first to tell myself "I can't" but I should be the first person encouraging myself, if I don't encourage myself then who will? When things are tough or you are battling with something, encouragement is like a boost to your self-esteem, why should it always come externally? I believe that we should all have positive beliefs in ourselves to carry us through. Belief is empowering so believe in yourself, if someone else can do it, you can too.
• Forgiveness ♥ - In my perspective this one is the hardest for me, I never forgive myself and hold on to everything I have done wrong. Forgiveness will make a huge difference in your lives and the lives of those around us, helping us remove many of the blocks that we have hidden deep down in our subconscious mind, blocks that keep us stuck and away from living the life we always dreamed of. Forgive yourself for not accepting yourself completely. Forgive yourself so all of the judgments you've placed on yourself and others. Forgive yourself for your mistakes for without mistakes you wouldn't be who you are today.
• Be Giving ♥ - It's important to treat yourself with things you enjoy, whether its reading a book or attending a class you have always wanted to or even getting yourself your favorite cupcake or dessert (and not worrying about the calorie intake). You give to others to rejuvenate them, you should be just as worthy of and in need of rejuvenation.
• Listen ♥ - Lastly, listen to yourself. Don't overwhelm yourself or overdo it. If you're tired, take a break or a nap, if you have been mentally overworking take a day off.

Learning how to be more compassionate on myself was something that I never even thought of or considered so this was actually an amazing reward to myself. I've come to terms today that I am only human, I'll make mistakes, change my mind, it's normal. I can't control everything and will always fail if I try too, it's better to embrace change and go with the flow. Nothing is as difficult as my mind makes it out to be. Take a deep breath. Smile and enjoy the ride.

“Love yourself—accept yourself—forgive yourself—and be good to yourself, because without you the rest of us are without a source of many wonderful things.”  - Leo F. Buscaglia♥