GIVING the gift of kindness to oneself is a true gift of self. Sometimes we can forget that the individual can be an object of her or his own experience. This is akin to counting the number of people in a room and forgetting to include oneself in the count.
Treating oneself with the highest degree of respect that one affords a best friend speaks to the importance of considering oneself as one’s own best friend. The way we treat ourselves is often a good way to measure how we will and do treat others.
Kindness is a gift that benefits the receiver and the giver. Kindness is not self-indulgence. When an individual is self-indulgent he or she cannot resist the gratification of whims and desires. Just because something “feels” good, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is good. Self-indulgence means that either the receiver or the giver is not getting full benefit from the act.
In the words of psychotherapist Claudia H. Christian, “self-kindness is applying a generous and warm heart toward yourself to create sympathy and understanding from yourself, for yourself.”
Kenneth Hemmerick
