Contempt or Kindness?

 

 Human beings, by nature, are imperfect beings. Who can be perfect but God alone. Human beings, being flawed, experience limitations and failures. I do not know a person who always succeeds and never fails. Do you? I hear you whispering no. Therefore, this becomes clear that human beings fail and undergo painful experiences. You and me too. 

We can respond to our pains and failures in two ways – contempt or kindness. Now, remember how did you relate to yourself the last time you encountered pain, rejection, humiliation, or failure? Did you become a contemptuous Hitler, blaming yourself totally (or even others)? Or, were you kind to yourself, as you would to a dear friend in her failure. Kristin Neff, a well-known writer on self-compassion, says, “We don’t have a lot of control over our personal characteristics — our inborn personality, our body type, our health, the good or bad fortune of our circumstances. But what we can do is start being kind to ourselves when confronting our limitations, and we can suffer less because of them”.

Many of our negative experiences may not be in our control but, suffering due to them can be. The way to move from suffering to peace, healing and growth is through kindness. Be kind to yourself – as God would. 

 

Notes

1.Kristin Neff (2011). Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself.