You know you ought to be much, much kinder to yourself, right? Life, people and the world are already so hard on you. The last thing you need is be so harsh on yourself as well. You are to handle yourself with loads of care, as though you were the most delicate being to have ever existed. You are to be your own home. A place of safety. A place of grace.
I am all for holding yourself accountable when you know you could do better, for disciplining yourself when you are not being your best. But how you do so is imperative because what you say to yourself, how you treat yourself is more make or break than anything anyone else could ever throw at you.
I’m not saying that you must indulge in self-pity because that has never helped anyone. I just think that there is a way to hold yourself accountable, to be realistic and honest with yourself without having to be so hard on you, without tearing yourself down. So please, please learn to be gentle with yourself, to go easy on you. Pay attention to how you talk to you. We get you one of you in this lifetime. Be kind to yourself, kid.
Take a breath. Admit when you are wrong, when you could do better. Take responsibility for the repercussions of not doing your best, of not being your best. Wash over it with an abundance of grace. Smear forgiveness all over it. Stare into the “I am still enough” mirror. And go again.