Do you like yourself? I mean do you REALLY like yourself?

You certainly wouldn’t criticize a good friend. If they made a mistake of some sort you wouldn’t tell them how clumsy or stupid or careless they were; you’d say something supportive like, “It’s no big deal; it’s easy to fix.”

Don’t you think you should be a friend to yourself too?

I think that the most important thing is awareness of what you’re doing. When you catch yourself saying something critical to yourself, stop, turn it around, and say something supportive. You will hear that, too, and as if someone else said it. You will also absorb it as if someone else said it, and you’ll feel better. Maybe more importantly, you WON’T feel BAD about it.

After all, you are always there in your times of need. No phone calls to make, no emails to write… how are you going to treat yourself?