14 Comments

Lori, I appreciate your perspective on obstacles, especially the fact that no one has ever overcome all of their patterns. Your gentle approach makes sense to me, and through using it, I do not doubt that our obstacles can grow smaller and we can grow stronger.

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Thanks, Sandra! I’m grateful for your support. It illustrates how community can be a part of holding ourselves to a gentler, self-compassionate approach. 💚

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The emphasis on self-compassion throughout this article is so important. It's easy to be hard on ourselves when we face the same challenges repeatedly, but as you say, 'we arrive as a new version of ourselves, enriched by our life experiences.' Approaching these obstacles with kindness and understanding is crucial for growth.

Thank you for sharing this wonderful article. 🩵

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Alex, thank you for your kind response! I’ve learned through much data gathering that criticizing and berating myself are not actually effective self-motivational strategies. 😂 And when I remember that, I can gently steer myself back to self-compassion. Sometimes it takes a lot of steering, like when our car is out of alignment, but it’s worth the effort.

Grateful to have you here! ✨💚

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I adore this article. The lede is powerful and brings me right to my favorite line from one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies when Captain Jack Sparrow crashes down a mountainside and almost kills himself then staggers back into the group and says "I hope everyone saw that because I'm not doing that again."

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Thank you, Georgia! I know that feeling all too well. So grateful for your feedback and support! 💚✨

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Very helpful and supportive today as I’m sitting with a part which cycles in and out like you shared. But I also notice there is more compassion towards it. That I am speaking differently for it, setting better boundaries and such.

It feels like a lynch -pin…it’s been holding a lot of self sabotaging illusory power and if it yields…a huge landslide is likely.

Im loving how much more tender and patient I feel towards it.

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What important observations, Lila! Thank you for sharing. 💚

Perhaps it would be helpful for you to know that I’ve found in my life that I can know something is holding back a landslide and choose to allow it to be there. In the meantime, I can find other ways to shore up that ground, grade it so that it doesn’t slide, or forge an alternative path. Please take anything that you wish and leave the rest.

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I agree! I am allowing and keeping a watch … 💚💚

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Beautiful!

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I love how your how-to recommendation begins with Explore, Lori. I rarely make the progress I want a first step of sitting with, naming, and understanding (as best I can in that moment) my emotions and actions.

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I appreciate you sharing, Carol! I’m drawn to starting with Exploring because too often, when we’re trying to change something familiar to us, we assume that we’re aware of all the relevant details. Exploring feeds our natural curiosity and allows us to start seeing ourselves in fresh ways. I love that!

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Very relevant and useful tips; thank you, Lori!

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Thanks, Moorea! Wishing you curiosity and self-compassion!

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