10. The Art of Being Kind to Yourself

What does kindness mean to you? Giving a homeless person a dollar? Letting your partner have the last bite of cheesecake? Showing up at your best friend’s apartment armed with saltine crackers, chicken soup, and a week’s worth of their favorite rom-coms when she is quarantined with a stomach bug? BUT WHAT ABOUT BEING KIND TO OURSELVES? 😊 I associated kindness with all the above. It wasn’t until I stopped and became aware of my thoughts that I realized that all of those circumstances focus on being kind to others, and not myself. In a society that deems selflessness as the ultimate form of kindness, we often allow our personal well-being to suffer in order to put others needs before our own. But in reality, taking care of ourselves is being responsible, not selfish. Practicing self-kindness is an essential expression of self-love, one that is so often overlooked, or even forgotten entirely. Allowing kindness to cultivate within ourselves will also allow us to easily and genuinely extend this kindness out to others. ❤️