We are often lenient with ourselves. When life presses hard against us, we pet our wounds in the guise of tending to them. Yet when it comes to others, we sometimes become the heartless nurse who applies the hot press without care, insisting it is for their own good.
Loving ourselves is not wrong. The problem begins with how we choose our perspective and then insist it is the only valid one. This is where we become ludicrous, setting ourselves as the final judge of how life must be lived.
At times, we look at the choices of others and label them as forbidden, even when such decisions are neither criminal nor harmful, only different. In doing so, we expose the plank in our own eyes. We make it seem as though we alone know it all, and anyone who does not align with our way must be condemned in our world.
This is where we must pause and sweep our inner landscape. It is not enough to be self-loving while we judge others harshly. True wisdom is balance. True love recognizes that while we tend to our wounds gently, others, too, deserve the space to live, choose, and grow.
In a world where self-love is absolute and balance is alien, choose to be the exception. Cut others some slack where no crime has been committed. Let kindness weigh as much as your love for yourself.
Nugget: The measure you use on others is the measure that will shape you.
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