“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.”
-Brené Brown
We're so quick to give others grace, but when it comes to ourselves, we're often our harshest critics.
You're tired. You're doing your best, you're juggling a hundred things, showing up, trying to hold it all together, meanwhile, that inner voice keeps saying you should be doing more, better, faster.
But really…You wouldn't speak to your friends the way you speak to yourself. (As I write this, I'm getting flashbacks to those “You wouldn't steal a car” ads that were on DVD before a Movie started). You wouldn't roll your eyes at their tiredness. You wouldn't call them lazy for needing rest. You wouldn't tell them they're failing for not ticking every box.
So why do we speak to ourselves this way?
The truth is, we're all just trying, and most of the time we're actually doing a lot better than we give ourselves credit for.
So, what if you started treating yourself the way you treat others - With softness, understanding, and encouragement? What if instead of saying “I should've done more”, you said, “I did what I could today, and that's enough”? What if rest wasn't something you had to “earn”, but something you simply deserved because you're human?
It doesn't make you weak or lazy to rest or go slow, it means you're listening to your body and allowing yourself some kindness.
So if you've been carrying guilt, pressure, or impossibly high standards lately, let this remind you and give you permission to drop them. You don't need to be perfect or to be going 100 all the time, you just need to be you.
Be as kind to yourself as you are to the people you love.
You're doing better than you know!
