St. James' Church Bushypark Galway

Be Kind to Yourself

How hard we can be on the person closest to us – hard on ourselves. We all need a bit of compassion for ourselves, for our weaknesses, faults and failings. We also need to be able to forgive ourselves – if we are hard on ourselves, we will be hard on others.

We can be so hard on ourselves that we’re tough on everyone else. Can we accept ourselves as the people we are? That’s having compassion on ourselves. We can be hard on ourselves at all ages. For not being good enough, failing to reach impossible standards, for having feelings like jealously or envy.

And regrets: everything you wanted to happen and it didn’t. Maybe ways you let down a husband or wife, or ways you failed your children. Jesus was big on compassion. And we need it. Look on our whole selves: not just one side of ourselves. If you have hurt people and they forgive you, allow yourself to be forgiven.

And let the compassion of Jesus give you sympathy for yourself. We need to love ourselves. Accept yourself – love yourself as you are, not as you might have been or might be. Be kind to yourself and you will be kind to others; let others be kind to you and you’ll be kind to yourself. Be compassionate to yourself and you will be compassionate to others.

Allow others to be compassionate to you, and you’ll look on yourself with love – and that is how God looks on you.