Is Loving Others Without Loving Ourselves First Possible?

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Is Loving Others Without Loving Ourselves First Possible?

In a way, caring for ourselves has never been more accessible. These days, you don’t have to go too far to find a yoga studio or an adult coloring book to de-stress. Self-help books are a multi-billion dollar industry in the U.S. alone. Mental health conversations are being de-stigmatized through a surge of awareness campaigns.

And yet, self-care has never been harder. We’re surrounded by distractions. Our chirping phones remind us there’s always somewhere else we should be, someone else we should be prioritizing. Wi-Fi and smartphones make it hard to get away from work—especially if measure our success by how busy we are.

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Is It Ever Okay to Disengage When the World Overwhelms Us?

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Is It Ever Okay to Disengage When the World Overwhelms Us?

Maybe that sounds apathetic. Selfish, even. But there’s a difference between willful ignorance and being intentional about taking a step back at times. Being aware of social issues is important, but so is taking care of ourselves. Compassion is fundamental to the human experience, but let’s not confuse empathy with martyrdom.

We can’t avoid or hide. Sometimes, detaching ourselves from distressing news is less about putting up a wall and more about deliberately focusing on the good.

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The Secret Ingredient to a Great Love Story

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The Secret Ingredient to a Great Love Story

For the average person, regardless of religious belief or vocation, being compassionate to oneself doesn’t come naturally. Sometimes—even a lot of the time—it’s easier to love others than to love ourselves. And that’s because we’re unavoidably aware of our own flaws and fears and failures. We live everyday with the qualities we deem to be unlovable. We know the lousy things we’re capable of doing, the horrible things that cross our mind that we hide from others. We see the bad in us and the good in others.  

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