This is incredible. I needed to hear it, thank you! I am better than I used to be, but still sometimes become overwhelmed with fear, and I find that fear leads to a lack of self-love. When I am fearful, I become angry with myself for not being better capable of allaying the fears. For example, I am fearful that the repairs my home needs won't get done, so I hate myself for taking on a house that needs so much work, and hate myself even more for not being good enough to do the repairs.
Those moments are few and far between these days but I had one last week. Your post reminds me of the work I need to put in to help those times become even fewer and farther in between. Thank you again for such an important and hopeful post!
Not only are we not living up to our values and the person we want to be, but then we judge ourselves for it. It's incredible how much more tangled things become when we add huge dollops of judgment on top. If we remember to embrace everything, even those parts of us we don't really want to experience, we can come back to recognizing what is, accept it, and make new choices to be who we want to be.
I'm grateful to have a made a difference in your day. I appreciate your presence here and the opportunity to share.