Finding Compassion for Yourself

A dear friend invited me to attend a retreat. My biggest take away was the gift of being incredibly present to a level of compassion I’ve never experienced before. I’ll try to describe it.

Imagine giving yourself permission to just be. To be yourself, flaws and all. Not covering up vulnerabilities, taking off the mask of persona, totally raw, like a newborn baby. No judgment. No expectations. Just being. Although it may sound scary because we don’t usually show up in the world that way, it was actually quite freeing.

At first I thought it was the environment that produced this feeling of warmth, acceptance and compassion. I mean, I’m compassionate, but not THAT compassionate. Then I realized that I could not have experienced that level of compassion if the potential for it didn’t already exist within me. Via Thought in the moment, I got to experience a compassion that touched me so deeply. I’m grateful for the experience and I’m grateful for the knowledge of how human beings are designed. 

I could have easily walked away from that retreat (or a seminar) and believed I need a retreat to feel that way. But truth be told, at a different time in my life I would have had a completely different experience of that environment. Not better, not worse, just different because our experience of life is an inside job that shifts as Thought in the moment shifts. 

We all have times where we believe that we need a certain person to respond in a certain way, be in a special quiet place, listen to specific music or go on vacation in order to feel love, validation, joy or compassion. I’m not saying it’s not pleasant when these things happen, but I am saying that we are not dependent on any specific person, place or thing to determine our experience of life. 

This is really good news for me because it means that I have the capacity to feel that level of compassion at any time. Compassion is not solely for the touchy/feely types. It is a gift we give ourselves when we let our preconceived notions about who we should be and the constructs we have about who we are crumble.

But for the thought (judgment, expectation, insecurity) I’m not enough, you wouldn’t feel unworthy. Unworthy is a temporary thought creation. You may have believed it for 10, 20 or 30 years, so it may not appear temporary, but all experience fluctuates. There is no such thing as unworthy, but for in your mind. Seeing this truth awakens deep compassion and allows healing and wholeness to be felt.

Just consider: YOU ARE ENOUGH!