Chapter 2:
Be Good To Yourself
Synopsis
“Be gentle first with yourself if you wish to be gentle with others.” – Lama Yeshe
Sometimes, people are very cruel and unforgiving to themselves. Imagine you made a huge mistake on a particular project at work, creating another burden for your co-workers and yourself, or you might accidentally said dumb on a first date or an important meeting. How would you really react?
You have to keep in mind that being good to yourself does not need to include a calendar full of spa treatments for yourself. It just means treating yourself the way you treat a good friend.
Many people would react in such situations by chastising themselves for their mistakes. In such case, you are figuratively beating yourself up. In just a small dose, self-criticism can actually be very helpful because it motivates people to take more responsibility of all their actions, and it encourages them to further improve themselves. However, excessive self-criticism can be self-defeating and debilitating.