Compassion is defined as benevolence, charity, empathy, grace, kindness, and good will.

It’s different from sympathy.

You may think you only deserve compassion once you accomplish something(so you deserve it), but then after you accomplish it, you feel you could have done better. It wasn’t perfect. When you’re in a state of comparing or labeling something as not good enough because it’s not perfect, where can compassion live? It cannot exist.

This idea that we must show up in a certain way and be “perfect” for others to accept us is backwards. You must be compassionate with yourself first, and then with the rest of the world. And to do that, you have to take off the mask. Perfection is an illusion, and it doesn’t force others into compassion for you. Perfectionism keeps us from acceptance.

This week I look at the push and pull between compassion and perfection. The mind is never satisfied when it is looking for the perfect picture. And compassion is necessary for self-acceptance. Learn how to dig yourself and get past that inner judge!