I woke up this morning with hurt feelings. That was my first emotion of the day, my feelings were hurt…but why? How? Who??? Okay, I should probably backtrack, the night before I found my way home after having exactly one too many drinks. I know it was ONE too many because I felt a nice gentle buzz after two drinks but I kept going and bam! …no bueno. To make matters worse, that third drink fell on an empty stomach so I got a ride home and did what any normal inebriated person would do, I ate disgusting, stale, old candy from my son’s hidden Halloween stash. And then I wrote myself this little note and went to bed.
Why? Why would anyone write a note like this to themselves? I can only guess that at the end of day yesterday, my final thought, my conclusion was: I am NOT beautiful. Maybe I have been feeling a bit too cocky lately…I needed to bring myself down a notch? I don’t know exactly why I felt compelled to write myself this note but whatever the reason, the answer to my hurt feelings question had been answered. My feelings were hurt because I battered myself with too much alcohol, processed sugar and a good healthy dose of self loathing. As I reflected on my sweet little note, I thought of the adage “hurt people hurt people” which I always looked at from the vantage point of how people interact with others, but today, even through a foggy mind I can clearly see that maybe in order to be kinder and gentler with others we should start by being a little bit kinder to ourselves.
Instead of my typical pattern of beating myself up over my mistakes I will attempt to learn from them, forgive myself and move on and maybe, if you are like me and tend to beat yourself up too and find your feelings are hurt for no apparent reason, here is some friendly advice for you…
1. Eat a healthy dinner before going out.
2. STOP at two
3. Throw that Halloween candy away! For pete’s sake it’s February!!!
4. Kindness starts with being kind to yourself.
