And that's okay
At the start of the pandemic, I offered a mediation called, "Of course."
As in, of course you bought all the toilet paper, of course you have a headache, of course you yelled at the dog.
In unprecedented times, we do unusual things.
As life meanders on, I've started using another phrase. One that I've found equally helpful, so I wanted to share it with you.
And it's okay.
You messed up.
You didn't stick with your goal.
You forgot someone's birthday.
You didn't set a good example.
You've gained 15 pounds.
You snapped at someone.
You watched TV for 5 hours straight.
You're on antidepressants.
You had a less-than-ideal reaction.
You didn't do anything productive today.
You changed your mind.
You said yes when you wanted to say no.
You said no and it hurt someone's feelings
Or any other version of I didn't want that to happen and/or I feel terrible.
My friend. Put your hand on your heart and say to yourself:
It's okay, this happens, you're human, it's normal.
You might even double up and say, "Of course. And it's okay."
The Inner Critic can be loud. She has a lot of opinions. The fact is most of the things we beat ourselves up about have very little consequence.
Humans are messy! We have thoughts and feelings, walk around in bodies that smell and grow hair, we often don't understand ourselves, let alone someone else (I mean, how could we?). When we expect anything less, we take away our humanity.
I believe part of living an examined life is offering compassion to ourselves when "doing our best" wasn't as good as we hoped.
If this resonates with you, let me know.
With love,
