Let Your Charity Begin at Home.

There is much focus in the teachings of our faiths regarding showing compassion for others. Let us not forget, however, to show compassion to ourselves. Is there anyone we are tougher on than ourselves? Is there anyone we judge more harshly than ourselves? Is there anyone we physically and emotionally mistreat more than ourselves?

It is a healthy thing to be introspective and to recognize the emotions and thoughts we have in each moment. But we must handle those epiphanies with care and compassion - and absent judgment and condemnation. There is nothing inherently good or bad about feeling happy, angry, sad, loving, vengeful, compassionate, and so on. They are emotions, nothing more or less. They are normal. Feeling anger is not cause for self-recrimination, for beating oneself up and calling oneself a bad person.

The thought, the emotion, the feeling - they are not inherently good or bad. How we act upon them, how we treat ourselves and others subsequent to them, is what matters most. Be kind to yourself. Be grateful that you have the capacity for self-awareness and the ability to experience any kind of emotion and yet continue to live a mindful and compassionate existence. Bless you. ~ Dharma Beginne.