How Do We Treat Ourselves?

Since it’s the beginning of Lent for Christians, I was going to write on the importance of having  a season of reflection. And that will be upcoming. However, I saw this link on a friend’s Facebook page—thanks, Debbie—and thought it was important enough to share. The article opens with a simple question: “Do you treat yourself as well as you treat your friends and family?” Think about this.

The essay continues, “That simple question is the basis for a burgeoning new area of psychological research called self-compassion — how kindly people view themselves. People who find it easy to be supportive and understanding to others, it turns out, often score surprisingly low on self-compassion tests, berating themselves for perceived failures like being overweight or not exercising.” Unfortunately, I tend to be one of those folks to whom Ms. Parker-Pope’s reflection is addressed, so I understand the importance of what she writes. You can read her whole essay at http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/go-easy-on-yourself-a-new-wave-of-research-urges/.