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Week Two ~ Self-Compassion
The second prompt for the Kindness Challenge 2017 is Self-Compassion.
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For Mother’s Day I went to the church service at my son and daughter-in-law’s place of worship. We were a group of eight so getting ready in the morning and getting out the door was a bit of a challenge. My son was ready before all of us and just smiled and said “It’s an exercise in patience.” When we arrived for the service, we were late and had to tip-toe in during the Mother’s Day sermon. It was a sermon on ‘Patience’. 😀 As we made our way to our seats, the pastor was saying “And if we find ourselves always arriving late, we need to have patience with ourselves.” It really gave us all a laugh! 😀 It helped to give us ‘self-compassion’ and lightened up the moment.
What I took away from that sermon was the message on a photo on the huge overhead screen. The pastor was sharing the story of what was written on Ruth Bell Graham’s tombstone. It was a message of Self-Compassion and Humility. It was a reminder that we’re all ‘under construction’ in this life.
“End of Construction – Thank you for your patience.”
Ruth Bell Graham
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I remember a time when things were particularly stressful in my life and I felt I wasn’t measuring up to my expectations for myself. I was being my own worst critic and definitely much too hard on myself. Then I read the quote below in a book I was reading for inspiration. It was such a kind and compassionate image of God being there with us through it all.
“Please be patient. God isn’t finished with me yet….”
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Self-Compassion Meditation
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~ Chinese Symbol sketch by Mary Lou ~
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Patience was the overriding thought for me too this week… I love that tombstone – how insightful was she .. brilliant.
This challenge is so interesting isn’t it?
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I think I read a book by her a long time ago. I was impressed by her simple message. Yes, the challenge has turned out to be more than I expected. 🙂
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What an a wonderful tombstone and comment on life. It’s funny how the universe seems to really try and get the message through at times – I loved your church story 🙂
http://pempispalace.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/kindness-challenge-week-2-reflection.html
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Yes ….. It impressed me that someone as well-known as Ruth Bell Graham chose such a humble statement for her tombstone. We’re all a work in progress. Thanks for visiting! 🙂
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How funny to have an message about patience arrive with such perfect timing. And what a beautiful thing to remember that we’re all works-in-progress until we take our final breath. Such expansiveness in that – and so much room to practice self-compassion.
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It was funny, Deborah! It gave me hope that we don’t need to be perfect. 😉
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Love the last quote! The concept of being “under construction” is so good, there’s always room for improvement and bettering yourself. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for visiting, Nashra! There’s always room for improvement is so true! No one is perfect. 🙂
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That’s so funny! I loved that the message was so incredibly timely on both accounts! I love the idea of being under construction, a life-long project that’s always under renovation yet functioning. Thanks for sharing! ❤
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Thanks for you comments, Niki! The timing really was funny so I just ran with it as far as this post went. Self-compassion seems to me to be about cutting ourselves some slack. 😀
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I agree! ❤
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What a wonderful way to describe the process. When we have times of transformation we are “under construction”. So true. There might be detours and some delays involved in the process, but when the construction is done and we see the finished project it suddenly all becomes worth it. Love it!
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You described it better that I could have! That’s a beautiful way to understand self-compassion. Thank you for stopping by during the Kindness Challenge! 🙂
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I liked the sentiment of being patient, because things are not yet finished in life overall. What a good thing lesson to learn!
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I like it too, Jenn! We’re always learning in life and there’s always hope. 🙂
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