Why We Need To Be Thankful For Our Enemies
Enemies
Of all the self-compassion lessons, dealing with our enemies is rarely discussed, but essential to living a good life. How can that be? Aren’t enemies bad? The thing about enemies is that they do us a disservice. This disservice causes us pain, and if we truly want to continue to enjoy our life, we need to acknowledge this behavior, address the cause of the pain, and forgive them. We must do all of this to let the experience go. Otherwise, we perseverate on it, which is exhausting, and takes valuable time away from the meaningful investments we want to make in work, family, and friends.
Gratitude For Our Enemies
You might be asking yourself why you need to forgive others to develop a strong self-compassion practice. The answer is simple. It is easier to forgive others than it is to forgive ourselves. Don’t believe me? Think about how mad you are at yourself for mistakes that you made years ago. Now try to think of all of the ways that other people have wronged you in years past. One is much easier to get to than the other. So, forgiving others is good practice for forgiving ourselves. When you can forgive yourself with ease, you will lose less time sidetracked from what invigorates, inspires, and fulfills you in life. You will also be able to learn from your mistakes, and you will have less anxiety about future mishaps.
Enemies Never Looked So Good
Your enemies are looking pretty good now, aren’t they? Now, when someone mistreats you or fails to honor your well-being, think of the mistake they made, think of their blind spots, address this pain with kindness, and forgive them to be free of their mistake and future suffering. You do not have to become best friends with them. Just give yourself permission to let go of the act. Then, think about a mistake that you have made recently or one that haunts you from long ago, and see if you cannot make room to follow this process to bring more well-being to your life.
365 Days Of Self-Compassion. Day 169. In The Books.