At The Table: The Liberty Restaurant on February 13, 2017

Brené Brown defines “wholehearted living” as engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion and connection to wake up in the morning and think “no matter what gets done and how much gets left undone… I am enough.” The pursuit of being perfect may not provide us with the fulfillment we hope.

Nothing and no one is perfect, so constantly striving for perfection can lead us in to punishing and self-destructive behavior that rarely if ever actually yields better results. Wholehearted people have compassion for others and their own self.

Having self-compassion has profound effects both internally and externally. Even showing compassion to others can’t actually be achieved unless you have compassion for yourself. People today seem to be more comfortable providing help to others than they are receiving it for themselves, but self-criticism will always subconsciously cripple these efforts. We all want to avoid pain, but letting it in--and responding compassionately to our own imperfections, without judgment or self-blame--are essential steps on the path to healing.

Jesus connects the idea of loving God and neighbor with the ability to love ourselves.

Test your own self-compassion: http://self-compassion.org/test-how-self-compassionate-you-are/