Have you ever done something you thought was really stupid?
That’s what happened to me recently. And I caught myself thinking some wickedly judgmental, not very nice thoughts about myself. It was interesting how quickly the inner criticism started and how painfully familiar the litany was.
No one can abuse us the way we can abuse ourselves.
What happened was that I found myself somewhere I didn’t expect to be. In this case, it was a physical place. But it could just as easily have been an emotional place. Either way, finding yourself in a situation or circumstance you regret can give rise to some pretty negative self-talk that makes you feel even worse. In my case, I immediately began berating myself for making a bad decision. And believe me, it wasn’t pretty.
A little self-awareness can go a long way in all the ways you want most.
Because I’ve been doing awareness practices for a long time, I caught myself pretty quickly. I noticed what I was doing to myself. And my self-awareness made it possible for me to interrupt it, stop it, and change it.
The cool thing was what happened next.
As soon as I got out of my head and back into the moment at hand, some really nice things happened. I got some help from passing strangers, I thought more clearly about my options, and I felt better about my decisions moving forward. And then the day ended a lot better than it started.
It is definitely possible to go a little easier on yourself even when you’re not feeling very good about things.
And the truth is that things tend to get better when you do, even when your situation overall is difficult.
Click below to watch the short video I made to tell you about what happened.
Feel free to post your thoughts and questions below.