Hope

Be Kind To This Version Of Yourself

Blessing Orogun January 21, 2023 4 min read 0

Be kind to yourself as you proceed along this journey. This kindness, in itself, is a means of awakening the spark of love within you and helping others to discover that spark within themselves.
Tsoknyi Rinpoche

These days, the hustles and bustles of life are becoming more real. We are getting more obsessed with the need for more that we do not often stop and think about how far we have come.

I think we’re so preoccupied with what we can be that we lose focus of who we are at the moment.

We forget that it is who we are now, that will get us to who we want to be. It is this body that we have now that will do the work for us to attain the heights we so long for.

But how do you expect this person to get you to your destination when you aren’t kind to them?

The fact that you want to get a Mercedes Maybach someday doesn’t mean you won’t take care of the Volkswagen Beetle that you have right now, would it? You don’t handle what you have carelessly because you’re hoping to get something better.

What if that ” better” never comes? Even if the “better” eventually comes, how do you hope to take proper care of it since you’ve developed a “nonchalant” culture towards what you have?

It is commendable to strive for a better life but are you taking care of the one you possess now? If you cannot be kind to yourself now, do you think you can suddenly become kind to yourself when you become that person you have always envisioned?

The truth is there’s always more to become, a mountain to surmount, a battle to win and a race to finish.

So, in this journey of your becoming, one good thing you can do is to be kind to the version of you that you have.

You have to talk to yourself kindly and with respect. Some of us go all out for others but never cut ourselves some slack. You have to love yourself enough to tell yourself the truth, even when it’s cold and bitter.

And again, you would have to forgive yourself for all the mistakes you made when you didn’t know better. To be kind to yourself is to show you mercy because you’re human.

It is to extend the same level of grace that you extend to others to yourself. It is to awaken your potential and tap into it. It is to give yourself rest when you need it and to take care of your spirit, soul and body. It is to set healthy boundaries for yourself and others, to nourish and nurture your essence with the right nourishment.

Sometimes, being kind to yourself would mean denying instant gratification for interminable rewards in the long run. It would mean imbibing discipline to do what is right.

Kindness means different things in the different seasons of our lives. So recognising how to be kind to ourselves in each season is equally crucial. You don’t just owe it to others to be kind to them, you owe it to yourself to be kind in each step of your fickle voyage.

Brené Brown agrees when she says “As it turns out, we can’t practise compassion with other people if we can’t treat ourselves kindly.” Simply put, you cannot give what you do not have. The more we love ourselves, the better we can love those around us.

Of late, the surge in young people having high blood pressure amongst other illnesses has left me puzzled and it’s largely because a lot of us are just driven by the passion to make it big that we neglect our health and we do not sit to weigh the ramifications of our lifestyle choices.

So, please, today, be kind to yourself; be patient with your process. You need to be alive and in the right physical, mental, social and emotional space to get where you’re going and to remain there.

If you cannot be kind to the person you see every day in the mirror, how do you expect to be good to the one you haven’t seen? Don’t be selfish, just be kind. Kindness is still in vogue and it suits you.