Poetry

Painting With Compassion

The gap between self esteem

& self compassion is wide

Self esteem can create a divide

Asking “How am I different?”

“Special?”

“Unique?”

One can always find something to critique

About themselves

If we are all special?

No one is

It is a losing battle

Such a fine line we carefully straddle

Trying to embrace

Wholly who we are

Head held high

Some days it is enough

To just try

Other days we must defy

The limits we’ve put in place

It is a misconception

That self criticism

Will spur us into action

Give us some traction on this slippery slope

Your brains actual reaction

Is to produce cortisol & adrenaline

Self criticism creates a scenario

Where you are both the attacker AND the attacked

The eventual impact?

Is to shut down

Common humanity gives us common ground

To rest upon

We feel isolated by our struggles, failures, & fears

You will not find a person who hasn’t struggled, failed or feared

We are united by our differences

— We all have them

Self compassion is:

  1. Speaking kindly to ourselves
  2. recognizing common humanity
  3. Remaining in the moment

We can use these 3 components as a new canvas

on which we can paint

& recreate

The way we see and treat ourselves.

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