Compassion gardening

My friend Graham, who is a very good editor, looked at my last blog and pointed out several misspellings. I am not the greatest speller and I'm sure in all of the blogs I've written there are many more mispellings and typos I didn't catch. I appreciate your patience. When I went back to edit the mispellings he found my computer jumped me out. For now they will stay as they are. Thanks for your understanding.

If I could have compassion for hating myself, I would be loving myself and nothing about me would need to change. Cheri Huber

I really likes this quote that I got from my daily peace quotes (www.livingcompassion.com)
When I am aware of my ego or false self yapping about what's wrong with me it is useful to notice. For instance" Why are you rushing to write this blog? This is a stupid topic. You don't have anything to say about it." So first I interrupt the urge to stop writing and go eat something I'm not hungry for. Then I remember that any voice which speaks to me unkindly is most definitely my ego. So, I say "Ah, ego" and keep writing. When I can have compassion for myself for hating myself, I am loving myself. If instead I said," There you go again. You have the most ruthless ego I can ever imagine. You are really messed up."
Who do you think that is? It is the ego or false self telling me how bad I am because It is so strong. If I let it, it gets me coming and going. Compassion means caring about someone else's suffering. When it's my own suffering I care about, I can shift out of listening to my ego and pretending that I am my ego. I am so much more than my ego. Sometimes it is useful to ask for help by drawing my circle around me and bringing someone or something that I feel loves me unconditionally into my circle. Imagining being held in unconditional love or asking for the experience of being held in unconditional love in the midst of self-hate or self- criticism can be very helpful. Bringing my own higher self into my circle is a great relief . I get to see that I don't have to do it alone. Self-soothing doesn't have to be a solitary project. There is help available if we are willing to ask for it. It is always there. It is us that pretend we have been abandoned.
Do an experiment. Close your eyes. Draw your circle around you. Let yourself be quiet and go down into your body by using your breath as a focus. Ask for the experience of being loved for being exactly who you are and see if you can contact that feeling within you. imagine it could include the things you hate. Breathe and be still a few more moments. See what you notice. It's kind of like creating a compassion garden. Gardening compassion. Do this practice every day for a few minutes for a week. See what you notice.