Be Gentle On Yourself

I haven’t written a blog in a few moons. Everyday I look at my “to-do” list and there, big and bold like a billboard on a highway, is “WRITE BLOG”. And every day, the blog goes unwritten, the billboard fading away in the distance of the busy-ness of my day.

As the no-blog days accumulate, billboard after billboard, my feelings of guilt and frustration intensify. I made a commitment to regular blogging, and I am betraying that commitment. My word is not my bond – for even though my word has only been spoken to me, it’s enough for me to know that I am not being “impeccable with my word”. That last phrase is the first of Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz in his book of the same name in which he outlines how to achieve a life of love and happiness. A life of love and happiness I certainly do want, yet here I am not being impeccable with my word.

“Be gentle with yourself,” the still, small voice whispered to me this morning. Yes, the sky will not fall if I don’t post a blog today, or if I haven’t for the past 3 weeks. The world will still spin, people will go about their daily lives, babies will be born and people will die – and none of it will be caused by my failure to post my blog. And with that insight, I relaxed, released and let go the blog – which of course, is why I am able to now write it!

What is causing you frustration and angst today? Be gentle on yourself. If it’s the actions of someone else, then be gentle on yourself and release them. Forgive them for whatever they are saying and/or doing. And forgive yourself. It’s one of the gentlest things we can do for ourselves. If the angst and frustration is caused by something you are thinking/saying/doing, then be gentle on yourself. There is NOTHING that you MUST do today – only things that you choose to do.