The gift of self-compassion

I’ve missed a few blog posts. In fact, I didn’t post any content anywhere for the month of September. It hasn’t felt great to be out of my rhythm, and I’ve been tempted to beat myself up about it. Truth be told, I’m currently going through a time of intense transition where everything feels unsettled. Lately, the bare minimum has been all I can give in many areas of my life and keeping myself afloat has been about as much as I can do. And honestly, even that has felt like a lot at times.

In this season, pressing pause on content creation has not only been necessary, it has been an act of kindness and devotion to myself. While I initially held out hope of being able to “do it all”… and maybe could have if I really pushed myself… being gentle and providing as much margin as possible was what I actually needed to retain my sanity and some shred of well-being.

This approach—opting to listen to my inner voice of compassion—is probably one of the single most important things I’ve learned in my adult life. This compassionate voice, unlike my inner critic, prompts me to respond with understanding, grace and kindness when I inevitably fall short of where I think I should be. This voice helps me see that it’s okay to slow down, particularly in seasons of suffering, and to move toward what feels gentle and ease-filled, rather than fighting and forcing. This voice beckons me to meet myself with the same patience and affection I would offer a dear friend.

And let it be known, I wouldn’t have always chosen self-compassion. For the majority of my life, I would have powered through, steamrolling any self-kindness for the sake of getting things done and not letting anyone down. I would have opted to maintain the image of a go-getter, who needs no rest and always follows through. I would have kept going until I was so burnt-out and tired that not only would I have hit a wall on my productivity, I would have likely found myself resentful toward my work and bitter toward those around me. I would have opted for criticism because it’s what I was used to and to do anything else would have felt like a cop out.

But not this time. Instead, I’m going to mindfully lean into grace, kindness and acceptance, trusting that I will move forward in my own way and my own time, and hoping that you will do the same for yourself.

Until next time…

Happy traveling!

~Tiffany