Here’s a short story that illustrates the practice of self-compassion. While we may not all have children, we can all relate to being in challenging situations. I hope this gives you a smile, and perhaps, a hope that you too, can put this practice into use when you’re faced with difficulty.
2 More Aisles
A man observed a woman in the grocery store with a three-year old girl in her basket. As they passed the cookie section, the little girl asked for cookies and her mother told her no. The little girl immediately began to whine and fuss, and the mother said quietly, “Now Monica, we just have half of the aisles left to go through; don’t be upset. It won’t be long.”
Soon they came to the candy aisle, and the little girl began to shout for candy. And when told she couldn’t have any, began to cry. The mother said, “There, there, Monica, don’t cry–only two more aisles to go, and then we’ll be checking out.”
When they got to the check-out stand, the little girls immediately began to clamor for gum and burst into a terrible tantrum upon discovering there’d be no gum purchased. The mother patiently said, “Monica, we’ll be through this check out stand in 5 minutes and then you can go home and have a nice nap.”
The man followed them out to the parking lot and stopped the woman to compliment her. “I couldn’t help noticing how patient you were with little Monica,” he began. Whereupon the mother said, “What are you talking about? I’m Monica . . . . . my little girl’s name is Tammy.”
Author Unknown
Speak Your Mind