Be Kind and Creative with Your Thoughts

“Love yourself

And the rest will follow.”

Don Miguel Ruiz

   Kindness is an act of acceptance and of love. Whenever we acknowledge our weaknesses and personal brokenness and treat ourselves with kindness we are loving ourselves. Kindness is the healing ointment we cover our hearts and souls with in order to alleve the emotional pain generated by negative thinking about ourselves.

   Practicing kindness means we replace our stinging, hurtful self-thoughts with gentle, compassionate self-talk. It means that we work on sympathizing with and thus better understanding ourselves— and the fact that we are flawed, or perfectly imperfect, just as EVERYONE IS! Kindness is the process by which we reclaim our wounded self-love.

   For humans there’s great importance to understanding that we are ALL in the same dilemma; that we all suffer from inner-brokenness. First, it helps us to be less critical of ourselves when we truly acknowledge that no one is perfect. Second, the more we practice self-acceptance and love through thoughts, words and acts of self-kindness, the more we will be able to empathize with the brokenness of others.

   Reclaiming our purpose is about self-love, but it’s also about community. No one uncovers all of the talents and beauty buried under self-loathing on their own. It takes outside help. We need others. No one else can rescue us or make us OK. We have to do that ourselves. But we are better able to do it when we  are able to share insight and support with others. It heightens our creativity.

   Self-love removes our inner-neediness. This means that we are free to love and help others for the right reasons. In the past, we may have wanted other people to think positively about us and to offer us words of kindness. We wanted others to give us what we weren’t willing to give to ourselves.

   Each day now, as we practice kind words and self-love, we will begin to see the true God-given value we all possess. As we release ourselves from self-criticism, our inner-joy will unveil more about our personalities and our natural talents.

   Take time today to practice thoughts of self-acceptance and words of kindness toward yourself. How do you feel when you are thinking good things about yourself? How does it feel when you choose to accept that you made a mistake and you are gentle with yourself?

   As time goes by, all of your true inner-beauty will rise to the surface. You will experience a rekindling of your deepest inner-desires and passions. You were born with these desires and passions and they hold the key to much of your God-given purpose in life.

   Take time to meditate and pray on the passions you had as a child. Did you have passion for music, art, math, fashion, or medical science? Journal about the desires you hoped to fulfill .

   Remember, Love and kindness lead to self-discovery and place us back in right-relationship with self, God and others.