Being gracious to yourself

 Jean Paul Sartre, French Existentialist famously wrote that “Hell is other people” in a play called “No Exit” where three cellmates are in hell, trapped with the constant judgement of one another. I wholly understand the picture of his painting but I would argue that Hell can also be found in ourselves! There is a tendency for one to be caught up in self-condemnation and self-hatred when they aren’t living up to their ideals.

I can recall recently feeling miserable because I had just gotten a new fast-paced job that my postpartum ass struggled to keep up with. I swear the stress could have caused me to book a GP appointment because I was being incredibly hard on myself. I guess on one hand I could give myself a round of applause for seeing a challenge and reaching for it but what does that matter if I ignore my efforts because of not having met my expectations straight away? 

This is just one relatively trivial example, but it’s so easy to punish ourselves when things have not gone to plan or simply because we overestimated our capacity to complete a task or uphold a promise to someone. 


If I make a mistake shouldn’t I discipline myself so that I do not repeat the same mistake?


The truth is there is ALWAYS room to grow and space to correct our wrongdoings but to do this effectively we must exercise grace to ourselves, as I feel that it enables us to choose intense understanding and do better from a place of love rather than disappointment. 


The heart of a warrior beats with grace and perseverance.

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