Loving Kindness

We had a nice discussion at the meeting last evening about compassion and loving kindness.  Compassion towards others we can all identify and don't have as hard a time doing.  But when it comes to loving kindness towards ourselves that can get a bit trickier, especially when everyone is so busy living their lives.  As wives, mothers, caregivers we often put others' needs before our own but eventually we suffer for it.  Too many withdrawals and not enough deposits makes for an empty loving kindness bank account.  This can lead to compassion fatigue, which helps no one and you end up burned out.

Some ideas the ladies had for self-care include simple everyday little things like coming to the meetings on Tuesday evenings, having a cup of tea, taking the time to read a book or going out for an activity without the husband or family.  We also talked about surrounding ourselves with color we like in our yarn choices or home decorating, objects in our homes that give a sense of warmth, meaning, or invoke memories.  Although possessions are not necessarily how we show ourselves loving kindness, they can be of great comfort in terms of making our domicile cozy and reflect who we are. 

I made a list of some of  my favorite things I do for self-care:  meditation, yoga, running, journal writing, having a cup of tea in my favorite mug, quilting, knitting, gratitude prayer, cooking.  I don't necessarily do all of them everyday but I do make an effort to do several.  As you can see from my simple list, they're not big things but little everyday things that don't take a lot of time or effort or money.  The quilting and knitting I always try to keep a project in progress so even if I only have a short amount of time, I can do a little.  Even 15 minutes can improve my spirits.

What do you do to show yourself compassion and loving kindness?  What do you do for others?  Are your withdrawals higher than your deposits?