Everyone fails at something, at sometime. That’s what being human is all about. When we fail, or make a mistake, it can be a great time of growth of developing wisdom.

For most of us, seeing the beauty and good in others, being kind and compassionate towards other people – that comes pretty easily.

But, what’s really hard, is seeing the beauty in ourselves and being kind and compassionate, consistently, towards ourselves. Especially when difficult things happen. Perhaps someone is critical of us, or we make a mistake, we beat up on ourselves. You could call it the inner critic, or that voice in your head that says mean things, or you could call it self-hatred.

How can we interrupt this? Learn to befriend ourselves, consistently.

This interesting article below from The Sydney Morning Herald covers how being too self-critical affects mental health and performance at work. It discusses the benefits of Compassion Focused Therapy and recent research.

Self-compassion, rather than self-criticism is what pays off. It’s something that is not always easy, but once learned will greatly assist a person’s sense of well-being, and happiness.