It's a pickle, but it's not a character flaw.

I have some centering phrases I use in my most clouded moments. These phrases are distinct from affirmations. Affirmations don’t seem to work for me. They feel a bit too much like trickery and my mind will not have it.

These centering phrases help call me back. Into self compassion and understanding. Into spaciousness. Into oxygen filled beliefs and the promise of expansive new openings.

One of these go-to centering phrases goes like this…

It’s a pickle, but it’s not a character flaw.

Sometimes when I’m learning how to soften my harsh inner critic, I feel like an alien who’s just landed on earth. It’s a whole new language. A whole new perspective. And my limbs seem to be floating around haphazardly.

When people make mistakes and speak gently to themselves about it in my presence, I stare at them exactly as I imagine an alien would stare at a strange earth creature. I can almost hear myself muttering what sound like mathematical formulas, trying to make sense of this foreign phenomenon. I look at them how I feel Halo (6) looking at me when I act differently to how she’s surmised humans are supposed to act. She’s so much like me. Sometimes I try on different narrating attitudes to expand both of our belief systems. To soften us both. Maybe this is where this phrase came from. The one about the pickle…

So I’ve been reminding myself of this phrase when things get uncomfortable.
When I’m comparing myself to the neighbours.
When I feel ashamed that I can’t seem to have my life operate on a seamless schedule.
When I make mistakes.
When I feel I’m falling short of… something.