Kindness Begins With Me

One of my favorite things to do is to give service to others. I love helping other people. When I was in high school, I came up with a goal to help someone or compliment someone at least three times a day. Something that started out as a simple goal turned into a daily habit and I just do it to random people despite the odd looks I get sometimes. It just feels so good and satisfying to help someone else out or to make them smile.

Are you all ready for a confession from yours truly? Well here it is...

Even though I love giving service to others and being kind, I often fall into the trap of not being kind to myself. I am a huge perfectionist and can be very hard on myself at times. I find myself critiquing things I do wrong even if they are small until they become huge things. I literally freeze up because I am so critical of my mistakes or my short comings.

I Rachel Ann Fischer, am my biggest critic. But why is this? It's not as if I am a horrible person because I'm really not. I am actually pretty cool and am a good kind person. I often look over what I have done well and focus just on the things I don't do well. 

I have come to the realization that my perfectionistic attitude is a good thing in certain situations, but it can often turn into a hinderance and doesn't allow me to progress or move. I am literally robbing myself of happiness. Happiness that Heavenly Father wants me to have. 

Lately I have been challenging myself to find the good in me and to be kind to myself. It has been difficult to break the habit of being hard on myself, but as I've been making an effort to like and be kind to myself, I have been starting to see small differences in how I act and think. It really is quite marvelous. 

I need to remember and remind myself daily that God loves me and likes me too. He is infinitely kind to me. Why in the world would I ever be unkind to one of his children? I often get caught up in thinking that I am being kind to his children, but I need to remember that I am one of his children too. I need to be kind to myself.

I made it a habit to be kind to others, but I need to make it a habit to be kind to myself as well. It may be hard sometimes, but with God's help I will be able to turn it into a lifelong habit that will bless my life and others as well. I will be able to be happy with myself and be able to progress and like myself.

So here is a toast to a new beginning and trying my best to like myself and to be kind to myself as well.

*All photos have come to a blog near you via Pinterest.