Late Night Chat with Margi Connor & Peter Goodman: Self-criticism, April 6, 2023, live on Baba Zoom

Late night chat centered around our Beloved. A sharing of hearts led by Margi Connor and Peter Goodman.

Jai Baba!

The topic for tonight is self-criticism. I know for so many of us it is what holds us back from truly seeing how much Baba loves us. I think many of us often attribute the voice of our inner critics to Him. Have you been plagued by this voice throughout your life? Have you been able to come to a place that allows you to pay less attention to it?

I believe self-criticism is what stops us from being truly connected to and accepting ourselves. We tend to aim toward self-improvement without acceptance of where we are in the moment. Often we are never able to see how far we have come because our voice of criticism is telling us we still aren't good enough. Remembering that Baba appreciates all the efforts we make and knows every slip we will have along the way can allow us to start to have more compassion for ourselves. I imagine it must hurt Him so much to see us be so mean to ourselves. Go back to a time you witnessed someone you loved deeply being extremely hard on themselves. Didn't it break your heart? Baba loves us even more than we love that person so imagine how much pain it must cause Him.

Baba wants us to be loving and accepting of others, but how can we do that when we speak to ourselves in a critical manner? I know in my life, I really started to address my self-critical ways when I realized how much it was affecting my relationship with others. As much as I tried to be loving and accepting of others, that voice of criticism would bubble up and be directed toward them. Acceptance of others starts within. We have to learn to accept ourselves wholeheartedly so that we can live how Baba asked us to. Isn't that the least we can do for Him? He suffered so much for us and all He wanted was for us to love each other and think of Him. Can we learn to accept ourselves in order to do that for Him?

I mentioned self-acceptance in the subject of this email because I feel it goes hand in hand with self-criticism. For many of us, that voice doesn't just "go away", but we can learn to accept it and pay less attention to it. There can be another critical cycle that happens when we decide we want to be less critical, which is that we criticize ourselves for being critical, again not being accepting of exactly where we are. Is it possible to hear that critical voice, surrender it to Him, and create a new voice that is louder? Can we talk to ourselves in a loving way? Is it possible to even reimagine how Baba talks to us-like we are the most beautiful children who matter so much to Him? Is it possible to learn to accept ourselves in all states knowing that Baba will bring "self-improvement" when He deems it necessary? Won't doing this allow us to feel closer, more accepting, and more loving of our fellow humans, knowing they are dealing with all the difficulties that we are?

These are just a few questions to prompt the conversation tonight. I am so looking forward to hearing how all of you have navigated this tribulation.

In His Love,

Margi and Peter

To join the email list for Late Night Chats, please contact Angela

This event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily