All of us want to be liked by others. Unless you are a sociopath, you definitely have a way you behave around others and how you treat outsiders. We are courteous, loving, patient and understanding when the outside world is watching and we always have a smile on our faces to all we know. That’s great. That is social etiquette that everyone needs to imbibe in order to be accepted by society.
But what happens when you go home and close your doors to the world? How do you treat yourself when no one is looking? Is it any different than the way you treat society? Is it better? Is it worse? At work, when a co-worker or employee makes a mistake, you are patient, you explain procedures to that person – basically, you do whatever it takes to act like a mentor and not be labelled mean, crazy, a control-freak, etc! Then why are you so ready to judge yourself and self-criticize all the time?
The concept in the video above is explained beautifully by Oprah and Iyanla Vanzant. The way we treat others should be the way we treat ourselves! If you find that you are more accepting of society than yourself, then know that you are just putting on an act to appear friendly and that is basically you conning yourself and others. In fact, you should be the first person you look after before you even think about the world at large. The truth is, you can’t really give to others without first being able to extend to yourself. This is probably the reason why you always feel so drained out at the end of the day – because you have spent most of it trying to be there for your family, co-workers, clients, etc. and at the end of the day you have no energy to be there for yourself.
A good piece of advice is to begin your day just for you. Get up a little early before anyone else, and spend time alone. Be there for yourself, ask yourself what you expect from your day, question yourself about how you are feeling, what milestone you are going to reach today (could be reducing weight, quitting smoking, finishing an online class) and work toward that. For once in your life, do something for yourself before trying to do anything for someone else! In fact, if you practice this you will find that you are able to be more attentive during the day, you will seem happier, more content, more productive and at night look yourself squarely in the mirror and say that it has been a real good day!
Liked this article on It Is In Giving Ourselves and have something to say? Comment below and don’t forget to SHARE THIS ARTICLE!