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There’s no doubt about it: our world is changing in so many ways and our daily lives are challenging on so many fronts at this time in history.
So I’ve been asking myself these questions:
>> How do I find some relief from the low-grade anxiety creeping into my body and soul because of how I’m spending my waking hours?
>> How do I let my chosen family and friends know that I want to be a good friend to them during these messy moments but may not always be there for them because I need time to care for myself too?
>> What can really help me and the people around me move through both personal and universal chaos and continue being of benefit?
To give myself some ease and clarity, I sat and started writing down exactly what I was feeling:
I will need breaks from troubling news,
distracting social media and draining people.
I will need to give myself a break whenever I
overburden myself with to-dos and guilt over not-dones.
I will also need you to give me a break when I
am over-extending myself and generally overdoing stuff.
I will need breaks every now and then to breathe deep, re-center myself,
reset my focus, have a laugh or two and
remember that life, as a whole, is still wonderful.
I will need these breaks because there’s still
so much good we need to do in this world
and we’re doing this for the long haul.
I hope you’ll do whatever good you can do for the world
along with me then pause and
take these much-needed breaks just right beside me.
I wanted to share my experience and these words in the hope they’ll be of benefit somehow. I didn’t set out to write about what so many of us in this community love practicing, reading, and writing about: Maitri, or the practice of creating an unconditional friendship with one’s self. But by putting together this love letter of sorts to all of you, I realized that’s what I ended up doing anyway, in my own way and with my own words.
So as of now, I’m just a girl, sitting in front of her laptop, asking us all to practice loving ourself, unconditionally.
When the world is just too much, we need to give ourselves and each other a break. We need to be a little more gentle with ourselves and each other. We need to be a real friend to ourselves and to each other.
This is how we make it through tough and trying times, together.
Bonus: When you need a dose of Maitri, play this song.
~
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