Be Kind To Yourself

"I am so fat."

"I have no willpower."

"I must be dumb, everyone else can figure this out."

Do you ever say these things to yourself? Lots of people seem to. We look at other people or the messages shared by the media and we don't feel like we measure up. We beat ourselves up for not knowing enough, having enough, being enough.

I say, enough.

Just for today, stick up for yourself the way you would if someone said those things about your best friend. Today, be your own best friend. If the world feels full of people who are criticizing you, make a safe place inside yourself.

Just for today, don't put yourself down.

Just for today, think of something nice about yourself. And then something else.

Research shows that "all the benefits of having high self-esteem are equally found among the self-compassionate." So just for today, be kind to yourself.

“Both friend and enemy reside within us. One lives by the rule of compassion, the other by the rule of hard knocks. Though potential influence of either extreme is inevitable, our actions bear witness to the one we embrace.” ― T.F. Hodge