Compassionate Curiosity

COMPASSIONATE CURIOSITY
One of the greatest gifts I acquired during my years self exploration was the ability to have compassion for myself. To hold a lens of compassionate curiosity as I looked into the areas in my life that were not working for me. We so often beat ourselves up or make ourselves wrong for the things we discover during this process. Why did I do that? Why did I allow that? Why didn't I know better? The heaviness of this judgmental energy makes it so much harder to accept what is or what was, let go of it, begin to heal from it and ultimately move through and grow from it.

I encourage my clients to hold a sense of compassionate curiosity when they begin to excavate and make changes for themselves. To see what they find as simply information they can choose to feel curious about. Sort of like a really good friend, who loves you enough to point something out to you that perhaps you're having trouble seeing for your self. This good friend would point this out to you in a loving way, with an open heart and without judgment. Ultimately we come to understand that when we excavate, what we really find is our precious gems.

One of the added benefits of being able to be less judgmental and more compassionate with ourselves is that this often results in our being less judgmental and more compassionate with those around us. When we get more comfortable with the idea that we are all works in progress, and that's okay, we are less likely to react as strongly each time somebody lets us down or really upsets us. We still speak up for ourselves or set boundaries when needed, but we do it with a lighter energy.

So the next time you're inclined to judge yourself or somebody else harshly remember, we are each a beautiful work in progress!