Are we more hard on ourselves, or are we more hard on others?
Sometimes we think that what others say is more critical of us than complementary.
When we take the time to listen to ourselves, to really listen to how we speak to ourselves when no one is around, we are surprised to learn how disparaging we are of ourselves.
Because we are with ourselves all the time, we have a lot more ammunition to use against ourselves. We remember every little thing we’ve ever done wrong, at least to our own standards. We pick at how we have failed to live up to our own standards every chance we get.
It is often said that if we spoke to our best friend the way we speak to ourselves inside our head, we would lose that friend in a minute.
We can all learn something from being a little kinder to ourselves, a little gentler.
Being understanding and patient with others comes from first being patient with ourselves.
Practicing compassion with ourselves is the first step towards being compassionate to the world around us.
~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant
