Learning to Be Kind to YourselfSample

Fill Your Mind with Beauty

Often it seems that our days are filled with fake news and bad news but not nearly enough good news. And the Good News is that God is near. When we learn to fill our minds with more self-compassion and less self-criticism, we make space to open our minds to more joyful thoughts. Stopping to savor these thoughts gives us the opportunity­­­­ to stay connected with God all day long. 

How can we bring more awareness of beauty into our lives?

Beauty can be found in the small things, in the details, like a tiny hummingbird in a tree my husband noticed on a hike one day. Because he drew my attention to the one bird, then we were on the lookout. And we saw another and another. Each moment was one of connection between us and gratitude for this tiny, amazing creature of God’s creation. 

I regularly rotate the startup and lock screen pictures on my computer. The hummingbird Dan pointed out is a new favorite. There’s a great one of my dad with our three kids. We went at Christmas and saw him in his men’s chorus, so he’s wearing his chorus vest. The kids said, “We came to see Grandpa’s concert,” which seemed like a fun reversal of the usual grandparent-grandchild dynamic. Dad is wearing his red chorus vest and everyone is laughing over something. 

Swiping past these pictures as I open the phone to pull up an app at the grocery store brings me back to these memories and gratitude for the moments of joy. 

Practice: Keep a picture that represents a beautiful gift where you will see it often. When you see your picture again, offer a little word of thanks for that past happiness, and let that reminder open up a space of gratitude for you. You’ll discover how gratitude leads to more gratitude.

Adapted from Be Kind to Yourself: Releasing Frustrations and Embracing Joy. Copyright © 2020 by Cynthia Bunch. Used by permission. For more information, please visit https://ivpress.com/be-kind-to-yourself.