Gateway plug: Self compassion is in fashion

The first "real" post. Seems pretty loaded to me.

Do I inundate you with the details of what's happened in my current life? (what I will often in future refer to as "this leg of the journey" moving forward) Or do I try to explain why I decided to make this topic my first post? Or perhaps I prematurely beg for forgiveness when in a week from now I get too busy, or scared, or bored to write anymore? (For the record, I have >30 drafts in the queue for things I've planned on sharing, so feel free to "keep me motivated" with content requests please).

Nah, I'm not going to do any of that. If it's meant that I share my past with you, or I feel a need to explain myself at some point I'm sure it will all happen organically.

I am going to take this first post opportunity to talk about a theory that has taken me a long way. The theory is this...

Love yourself.

No, like seriously. Give yourself a fucking break.

You are enough.

Your best is more than enough.

You wan't to be a better person? Love yourself first.

[Insert additional clichés here]

But quite honestly the people closest to me, even the people that I've just met. They often wonder about my outlook, about how or why I feel about and approach situations the way I do. People from my past wonder how I've made that changes that I have (A LOT of change, as some of you are privy to knowing).

So, here is the secret. The foundation to all the other great stuff you're dying to have (happiness and gratefulness and love and hope). It just simply begins with learning to forgive yourself and to love yourself for where you're currently at.

You may feel it's better or worse than you were yesterday. You may feel extreme shame for things you have done and feel are unforgivable. You may beat yourself up for the things you didn't do, or couldn't achieve, or didn't have the energy/know-how/wherewithal to attain. Well I'm gong to tell you this...

You're wrong.

You're damn right, you're fucking wrong.

👆That? That, oh I won't say "that" kind of blatantly decisive, sweeping-type statement often. Moving forward I will likely say you are "growing", or "learning", or "on a non-linear journey that will often surprise you". But, today.. I am saying just that.

Because this is the key to your fucking* foundation. When you learn to forgive yourself, when you learn to love yourself, when you learn to show yourself compassion. That is the secret you all think I'm hiding. When you learn to show yourself compassion, you begin.

You begin to trust your decisions.

You begin to make better decisions.

You begin to stop wasting precious growth minutes beating yourself up about stuff in the past,

Stuff that you can't change and have no control over anymore.

You begin gaining control over your future by not wasting those precious minutes anymore. You begin realizing how you want to be treated.

You begin realizing how you deserve to be treated.

You begin forgiving others for not showing compassion to themselves.

And in turn, you begin learning how to treat others.

You begin realizing by starting to love yourself you are also starting on a much bigger journey.

That feels good. Like a slippery-slope feel of good, that keeps you wanting more. More love. More forgiveness. More for you. More for others. More for every-damn-body.

So here's an idea, next time you say something you think is stupid in a meeting at work, or you miss a trip to the gym or you feel like going down a rabbit hole (and a tub of Jerry's) thinking of the "what ifs?" regarding your last relationship. Save yourself. Save yourself the time. Save yourself the abuse. Save yourself the stress and worry. Save yourself the missed opportunities on the minutes of growth you could be using to get the life you've always wanted. Save yourself the self-hate. There's enough haters out there for all of us. Be on your own team. You've got this.

Loads of love 💕

Linds

*More swearing than I expected for a first post, but I'll show myself some compassion on that one 😉

** Being that I struggle from anxiety and addiction to minutia detail, I vow here and moving forward that I will not proof a post more than THREE times. Therefore, please excuse any grammatical errors or brevity.