We all want to feel good about ourselves. To be able to live in peace and harmony with who we are. For this to happen we need to embrace and accept all parts of ourselves. The good, the bad, the ugly. Yes, we all have qualities and flaws. We all have a side we hide from others, often also from ourselves. Let us call it our shadow side. Usually this shadow companion dances around in the shadows of our inner world – hence its denomination. Maybe you ignore or avoid its existenc

We can be the most caring and supportive friends, love partners, siblings, parents and still have a hard time being compassionate to ourselves. How is it just easier to show kindness and compassion to others? What leads us to be so tough on ourselves? There is something telling me that often we mistake self-compassion with self-pity. I can already tell you though that the differences are huge! Self-pity is perhaps something you witness around you all the time and most probabl

You’re probably looking at the title and wondering how come this week’s theme is again about forgiveness. Quick answer: This is our third and last pair of lenses on the matter. We’ve explored the importance of starting by forgiving ourselves as beings in constant growth, then asking for forgiveness as the imperfect humans we are. Offering our forgiveness is the ultimate step. Now and again other people’s attitudes and actions harm us. Their behavior - purposely or not - make

Last week we’ve talked about forgiveness and how powerful it can be when we give permission to forgive ourselves. Focusing on the same topic for a bit longer, let’s try to see it from a different angle. As human beings we make mistakes and occasionally we hurt others, perhaps more than we’d like to acknowledge. We harm them sometimes with our words or actions, every so often with our silence or aloofness. We let pride and our need to be right get in the way, leading to aliena

Forgiveness. Such a powerful word! If you were to think about it for a minute, what would come to mind? Often, we’re way too harsh on ourselves, we’re incredibly critical of our own thoughts and actions. We refer to ourselves in a depreciative manner adding up to the pile of negative stories we tell ourselves. We linger over harmful thoughts and feelings whose impact on our well-being is everything but healthy. Ergo, I dare asking: When was the last time you forgave yourself?