A Look at Desiderata – Day Seven

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

I have written before about the importance of treating yourself gently.

The key here is to treat yourself in as loving a manner as you are capable of. Then realize that you have the capacity to love even more.

For most of us, this means breaking out of our autonomic patterns and understanding that we are able to make different choices.

Think of it in this way: Imagine the ideal parent, an authority figure, so loving and compassionate, that he/she only wants what is absolutely the best for your highest and greatest good; then become that person. Apply all of those principles to your own life.

This ideal parent would teach and insist upon a “wholesome discipline” because this characteristic is in your highest interest.

To be gentle and loving to ourselves, many of us have to learn what that looks like. It is an unfortunate truth that many of us have never seen this type of love demonstrated, except perhaps in a movie or a book.

This precept is urging us to make just such a choice when we are dealing with ourselves. Once we learn to love ourselves in this gentle manner, it becomes possible to learn to love our neighbor with the same gentility.