Life Matters,  Mind Matters,  Uncategorized

Kindness Challenge – Self Love!

May 16, 2016 / 36 Comments

Week 1 of the kindness challenge just passed by and I realized that I am yet to post about it. Not that I didn’t remember to post, just that I was trying to stall as much as I could. Somehow, writing about self-compassion or kindness to self seems impossible. If writing about it is so difficult, then imagine how difficult it would be to practice it.

I almost said out aloud to Ms. Niki who runs the blog The Richness of a Simple Life:

“Niki, what were you thinking when you chose the hardest of them all to start the challenge with?”

But then I realized, it wouldn’t be a “Challenge” if it was something we could easily complete, right? And add to that, she even gave us a list of kindness exercises we could pick from.

Week 1 exercises- Pick at least one of the following to help you incorporate this week’s focus in your life:

  • Think about something you’re grateful for
  • Tell yourself something that you love about yourself
  • Read an inspirational quote first thing in the morning
  • Wake up and think about 10 beautiful things in your life
  • Do something nice for yourself
  • Dedicate some time to yourself
  • Give yourself a break
  • Think of 5 good things for every negative thought
  • Come up with your own self-kindness exercise

Since I had an entire week to practice some self-kindness, I decided to try as many of the exercises from her list as I could. I will not say that it was easy ‘coz I had to constantly remind myself not to be overly critical of myself and I will not say that it was too difficult to follow either ‘coz I did not have to work too hard to achieve this! Yes, I needed a few  reminders, but it wasn’t an impossible feat to achieve!

Well, here are the results of my attempt of week 1 exercises of the kindness challenge:

  • Think about something you’re grateful for

This was something I could do easily! I am most grateful for my son! If he wasn’t in my life, then I do not know what I did do! He keeps me grounded, disciplined, organized and keeps pushing me to learn new things every day. Whilst I do all of this for him like every parent will do, it helps me grow as a person and as a mother!

  • Tell yourself something that you love about yourself

I will be honest, this one was slightly hard for me! I kept thinking for the first 3 days since the week 1 challenge was posted to try and find an answer to this, yet couldn’t come up with an answer. Then, on the 4th day, it struck me – what it is that I like about myself. There is this thing in me that never allows me to give up! I take that as a quality, because even on my worst days it was this quality that kept me alive and pushed me out of my miserable self to become a better person and a better mom! That will power and that surviving spirit is one of my best qualities!

  • Read an inspirational quote first thing in the morning

This quote here really stuck with me!

quote about life

  • Wake up and think about 10 beautiful things in your life

This is my list of 10 beautiful things in my life:

  1. My Son – Adi – my constant source of joy
  2. My Little Nephew who is on the way – ETA Aug 2016! 😀
  3. My Parents, my Sister and Brother-in law – these are my pillars of strength!
  4. My writing – my upcoming novel which I hope to publish this year!
  5. My friends who are excited about me becoming a published author! 😀
  6. The beautiful home and neighborhood I am living in – so beautiful!
  7. My job/career that challenges me every day
  8. Books, books and more books – I can never get enough of them!
  9. Music – soulful and calming music – always beautiful
  10. Creating memories every day!

  • Do something nice for yourself

My fitness and health was something that I had been ignoring for a while now. Thus in order to do something nice for myself, I started on a renewed fitness journey. I have made running a part of my daily routine. I will keep you updated on that as I move along my new fitness path.

  • Dedicate some time to yourself and Give yourself a break

Oh, I had a wonderful break this weekend when we went on a camping trip! The camp site was lovely, so beautiful and green that I felt in sync with nature! Plus, I got the much needed “me” time! I could not have asked for a better weekend than this!

So, this was my week 1 of the Kindness Challenge! And I must say that at the end of week 1, I feel exhilarated and fresh as though some form of heavy load has been lifted off of my chest!

Now, I am eagerly looking forward to week 2 of this challenge. I urge those of you who are not yet part of this challenge to give it a go, trust me, you will love it!

A Single Mother with an unbreakable passion to Live the Life! I am a Writer/Author by passion and an IT Project Manager by profession. I am also the voice of Artemis at In The Pantheon - a multi-author collaborative writing project. When not hunting as Artemis, I am busy querying agents and working on my multiple writing projects. Women Empowerment and Child Rights Advocate.

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