Day 6 - It's Really a Balancing Act
A balance of compassion for oneself and compassion for others and the environments we are part of. Accept ourselves as fallible beings who make mistakes and mess up but also accept others around us and their mistakes and mess ups. The detachment between ourselves and our actions (useful and harmful ones) but also trying to detach others from their actions and words (whether we like them or not). Forgiveness for ourselves, as gifts we can give ourselves which release us from self resentment but also forgiveness for others who've hurt us, in order to let go of this resentment that we may have held onto, that is of no use to us when building more inner and outer peace in our lives (not forgetting or condoning but releasing.)
If peace is truly our motivation, I'm now thinking that no matter how much self-compassion and resilience work I do on myself, there is still a great journey to go, and putting this into practice and action is the next step. I see that It's only when others around us have the same opportunities, space, time, and support to practice self-compassion and other inner work, we can start to see the external peace evolve. If it's a collective, not just an individual aspiration, then it involves individual work, of course, in order to be successful but also collective connection and synchronicity to flourish.
So, it's time to literally get my ass home and be present with my family and offer support and opportunities for others to work towards their pieces of peace on this day.
Shane O'Connor
