Do what you can…
Never mind what everyone else has already done – appreciate yourself for what you have achieved. Feeling good and being in a positive mood starts from recognising what’s possible. Well done you!01 December 2017
We’re all apt to measure ourselves against others, and if you have a friend who has finished wrapping presents, or if everyone else seems to have their tree decorated and looking beautiful, we’re equally likely to feel a flop, inadequate and desperate to achieve more in the dwindling time left. I’ve had a busy week and I haven’t done all that I wanted. I wish I had started to get organised sooner. Why do I never learn? I’m exhausted, but what else I can fit in before I go to bed?
Now it’s time to pause and take a three-stage breathing space. Be aware of tiredness, aching legs, heavy eyelids struggling to stay open. Now breathe mindfully, following the in-breath all the way in, noticing a pause, then following the out-breath all the way out. Now expand your awareness to the rest of the body and allow yourself to calmly think: ‘What’s needed right now?’
You will be calmer, kinder and more self-knowing if you let go of judgement and accept that this is how things are right now. Want what you have, do what you can, be who you are. Don’t bully, punish or despise yourself – you’ve done the best you can.