I was all settled in with my coffee and a comfy chair. I opened up my backpack and… Dang! The books that had been sitting right there for me to read had not made it into my bag.
Now dear reader, if you are like me, you know what usually comes next. “gosh how stupid for forgetting” “I’m so scatterbrained” etcetera…
But instead this time I thought “well darn, I had hoped to get that reading in. I guess I was distracted when I was getting ready.”
Is this because I’m an oh so enlightened minister? Um, no. However, I have been practicing the Art and Practice of Living with No one and Nothing against you (the Q process). In the Q we notice this negative self-talk and learn to diffuse it and employ self-compassion.
Additionally the book we’ve been studying, What’s in the Way is the Way by Mary O’Malley talks about the inner storyteller and how to shift the story.
So, when I discovered I didn’t have the books I wanted, I was glad to notice that I didn’t spend a bunch of time being a mean to myself. It’s nice to see that this ongoing inner work actually has results.
Friends, it’s so nice to have the volume turned down on these unkind thoughts. It’s odd how we may consider words we wouldn’t say to a beloved perfectly ok to say to ourselves. Well, this is your reminder to stop it! Step one is to be aware.
You can certainly go deeper in healing these tendencies with the tools I’ve mentioned, but even if you don’t, just being aware is a step in the right direction.
Everyone makes mistakes, so be kind.