Post by: Tracy Weaver, Life Coach, EFT Practitioner
The “Be Your Own Best Friend” trend has certainly gotten off the ground and it is all psychologically very sound. You are the only with one with you 24/7, and hopefully you do know yourself better than anyone else. Being your own critic really isn’t good for you or your health and yes, you can learn how to be inwardly loving and positive to yourself. But all that isn’t actually what got me going on finding ways to be good to me. It was the timeless comic strip Calvin and Hobbes.
At one point, Calvin wrote letters to his future self, posted them, got them back in the mailbox the next day and read them aloud to Hobbes. The idea always tickled me and many years later, I decided to do some friendly things for my future self, things that would make me feel good when I got them or came upon them.
One is easy. I love music and so I occasionally find a used music CD online and buy it. Then I forget all about it which, in my case, is really easy to do. A few days or a week later I get a padded envelope in the mail with something new to listen to, a nice surprise for that evening. I also do this for my wife and occasionally other folks. Just a nice little surprise in the mail, and something new to listen to that evening while making dinner.
Another is setting up the coffee for the morning before I retire. I’m picky about coffee, so I set it up just as I want to find it in the morning. I’m also an early riser, waking up ready to do things while daylight is still a couple of hours away and the house is cold. Since my wife does not share this habit, I lay out whatever I’m going to wear in the morning in such a way that I can easily pick the items, figure out what they are, how they are oriented, and get dressed quietly in the dark without falling over hopelessly tangled up.
I’ve found it’s fun to do for myself and that my future self appreciates it! I don’t go overboard, just a few thoughtful little things. I wonder, if you were to try something like that, what would your future self most appreciate from you?
Presence and Positivity 