A lot of people understand self-love as coddling yourself or giving oneself freedom to indulge. But is that it? Such a behaviour will easier give a person an excuse to perform selfish acts at the expense of others. This is not to say that we should be sacrificial and only do things for the benefits of others thus dismissing one's personal needs. Rather, we need to know what true compassion is to oneself so that we can express our compassion to others authentically in the same way. Self-compassion is about developing self-acceptance and embracing every facet of you - rain or shine, good or bad, light or dark. It is about adopting a forgiving and non-judgemental attitude towards yourself with a simple reminder of what I call the "7As": Awareness, Admitting, Acknowledging, Accepting, Allowing, Affection and Appreciation. And indeed, the same goes for all of our relationships with others. Things will always fall into place, one way or the other, but may not be in the exact way that complies with our wishful thinking.
Can you love yourself unconditionally no matter what? If not, what is the starting point of the discussion of unconditional love?
No comments:
Post a Comment