Wow! Leanonme, great project!! And I hope lots of people join you, whether they write in or not- fair to do it either way folks :) Because the point is to be part of the community- to not have to do this work alone.

Now, in addition to your awesome challenge, and just because there's nobody here to stop me, I'm officially declaring tomorrow, Friday, "National Compassion for Ourselves Day" 

So, everybody get ready to make a good faith effort to treat yourselves with gentleness, kindness, tolerance and compassion. This means that all of us, everyone that reads this blog, gets to give it the old college try. No getting perfectionistic either- all I'm asking for is any effort- a few seconds, few minutes, whatever you can give yourself. And I'm not asking for eternal compassion for yourselves, only for a day when we all focus or re-focus our attention on the idea of compassion.

This goes well with Leanonme's group project- because as you guys work on facing whatever/whomever you have picked to work on facing, having compassion for yourself is going to come in very handy. 

Comments

[leanonme]

I LIKE IT.....

Johanna thanks for the encouragement again,and again, and always.:)

Im finding moments of ,or glimps's of, im not sure compassion but gratitude. So i guess this is a start. I really like the fact that everyone else will be giving this to themselves though.
I hope everyone lets us all know how this designated day goes !!!!

[Ann]

National Compassion for Ourselves Day

I needed this Day, Thanks Johanna for coming up with it! I'm having a really good day, so far. I'll fill in with details later, right now my little sister is about to graduate from high school :)

And Leanonme, I'm working on your project as well. Only I'm going to face myself, b/c I think I've been avoiding myself too much lately. Thanks for the great idea!!!

[Ann]

Ok, so first thing this morning I read the blog and found out it was compassion day. So, I took it and ran. Here's a list of what I was able to accomplish by being compassionate with myself.
1. Ate Breakfast
2. Took my time, didn't rush through things I would normally. Like a shower, brushing my teeth, getting dressed.
3. For most of the day I didn't stress about my body.
4. Ate a snack.
5. Ate a "normal" portioned lunch
6. Took a time out to breathe and relax.
7. Didn't stress myself out at work over things that don't matter.
8. Didn't spread myself too thin with too many things to do.
9. Overall I was gentle with myself and it felt nice.

All this lasted till about 7:00 pm, when I got to my sister's graduation and started people watching. Which turned into comparing, which started to freak me out a little. BUT the good thing is that I didn't get upset with myself for feeling those things, I didn't resort to ED behaviors. I'm not going to lie, I thought about it and wanted to. Instead I texted a friend and took some deep breaths to relax and calm down.

I think I'm going to put up a sign by my door that says "Today is National Compassion for Yourself Day! Be Sure to Treat Yourself Compassionately." So that every morning when I get up I will be reminded to treat myself with compassion.

Thanks again Johanna!!! This was a huge help for me and totally lifted my spirits and mood today.
:)