Some thoughts and resolutions centering on kindness and self-worth. Followed by the wisdom of others.
● I will treat myself with kindness and consideration.
● Because I treat myself this way, I wish to be treated with kindness and consideration, and treat others with kindness and consideration.
● When I am not being treated with respect and kindness, I will take measures to protect myself.
● When I feel blue or down I will make extra effort to be gentle and understanding with myself. I will do small things to nurture myself every two hours. I will take a walk, buy something good to eat, take a nap, speak with someone who I know cares for me. I will journal and remind myself — little by little, moment by moment — of my significance in this world.
● What I want in terms of material gain does not define the essential preciousness of who I am.
● I may want certain materials things in life. This is understandable and reasonable, but I place more value on my self-worth. Treating myself with dignity and kindness is a priority.
True compassion does not come from wanting to help out those less fortunate than ourselves but from realizing our kinship with all beings.
— Pema Chodron, Buddhist nun, author and lecturer
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.
— Rumi, Persian poet and Sufi mystic
I developed shame reliance — I understand this because I know that the uncomfortable feelings are contained by young, vulnerable parts of us that are frozen in past times when we were hurt or shamed and whenever anything similar happens in the present, all those feelings are reactivated and overwhelm us. Once we create more healing of those hurting parts, then vulnerability isn’t so scary, the stakes are lower and our protective parts will step down allowing our inner sun to shine, and we develop a stronger sense of our inherent worth.
— Brené Brown, author and storyteller
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
— His Holiness the Dalai Lama