[pknight]

Compassion/self love is what made me change my lifestyle and overcome excuses. If you have compassion for the work that your organs are doing, you are going to be more motivated to do the things that keep those organs healthy, while doing less of the things that damage them. One day I heard someone talking about how the heart has to work harder pumping blood around if you sit all day. I couldn't shake the thought, so eventually I started moving more and adopted a cold shower routine despite hating the cold. I started giving a shit about my cardiovascular health as a result of compassion. I didn't have to crack the whip either, making lifestyle adjustments just felt like the right thing to do.

Compassion is not about making people feel better for not taking care of their situation/body/work/goals/life/relationships, it's about acting with a level of care for the things that matter most.

[thenerdhead]

That's great to hear. I do believe in the power of compassion & self love. Especially how you define it. I just was not understanding the point of the article:

> Forget new year resolutions and stop striving to be someone you’re not. It’s time to embrace your messy, imperfect, soft-bellied self

Isn't the point of working on yourself to become someone you're not right this moment, but strive to be? (i.e. the better version of you)

[kurikuri]

A psychiatrist had changed my perspective from yours to the poster’s by pointing out that genuine self-forgiveness seems to be more effective than self-flagellation in allowing for change.

By accepting who you are at this point (without a negative connotation), the path towards becoming your ‘better version’ is easier to travel.

Examples of this change in difficulty come in the form of reducing the angst towards visiting gyms/being seen working out, and in wanting to eat better to help yourself as opposed to telling yourself that you need to eat better so you won’t be the way that you are.

Self forgiveness also helps in reducing procrastination by allowing yourself to start a task without the negative associations of past procrastinations.