Today's Daily OM~Being Hard On Yourself

Old 07-15-2008, 01:01 PM
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Today's Daily OM~Being Hard On Yourself

Sometimes it is funny when you are struggling with something, you get the answers you need--even in e-mail!! I love the Daily OM!

July 15, 2008

A Bad Habit

Being Hard On Ourselves

One of the key components of human consciousness that most of us need to address and change is our tendency to be hard on ourselves. We do this in ways that are both overt and subtle, and half the work sometimes is recognizing that we are doing it at all. For example, if we find it difficult to graciously accept compliments, this is probably a sign that we tend to be hard on ourselves. Other ways in which we express this tendency include never feeling satisfied with a job well done, always wanting to be and do better, and getting mad at ourselves for getting sick. Getting mad at ourselves at all indicates that we need to rescue ourselves from our learned ability to be unkind to ourselves.

In essence, when we are hard on ourselves, we send our bodies the message that we are not good enough. Whenever we do this, we do damage that will need to be addressed later, and we sap our systems of much-needed energy. Being hard on ourselves is a waste of precious time and energy that we could use in positive ways. To begin to understand how this works, we can think about times when someone made us feel that we weren’t good enough. Even just thinking about it will create an effect in our bodies that doesn’t feel good. We may be used to the feeling, but when we really tune into it, we instinctively know that it is not good for us on any level.

Like any bad habit, being hard on ourselves can be a challenging one to release, but the more we feel the burden it places on us, the more motivated we will be to change. At first, just noticing when we are doing it and how it makes us feel is enough. As our awareness increases, our innate impulse toward health and well-being will be activated, moving us out of danger and into a more positive and more natural relationship with ourselves.
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Old 07-15-2008, 01:20 PM
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Originally Posted by OverItNow View Post
Sometimes it is funny when you are struggling with something, you get the answers you need--even in e-mail!!
I believe God always finds a way to tell us what we need to hear. Its often just a matter of whether we are willing to listen to what He's saying.
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Old 07-16-2008, 12:44 AM
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Great post! I needed reminding of this. During my counselling sessions I was given 'homework' to try and be aware of what I was thinking about/saying to myself and stop being mean to me and beating myself up over silly things!

Easier said than done and it is easy to slip back into old habits. This has reminded me to be kind to me. Thanks!
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Old 07-16-2008, 03:50 AM
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Thanks, I needed this reminder today. I've not been sleeping the best since my nana passed away this weekend and being at work is difficult right now as I'm having difficulty concentrating on things. I find that my instincts are to feel it is not good enough, that I just need to kick myself up the butt and get my head in gear.

Your post reminded me that I need to take loving care of me right now, and that its actually alright if I'm not getting as much done as I would prefer to. I've had a major shake and it will be affecting me, and thats ok. I'm going to be kinder to myself,

Thanks for reminding me

Lily xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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