Kay:
Hey, there Questers welcome back. It’s Thoughtful Thursday here on the Mentorship Quest and it is April 8th. This is episode 329 and we have a quote for you today from the former Duchess of Sussex, the magical Miss Meghan Markle and she says, “If we treated ourselves as well as we treated our best friend, can you imagine?”
Shi:
It’s so fun! It’s such a great turn too. Everybody goes, “Would you talk to your friends the way you talk to yourself?” And so, this is basically that same concept, but set in a different way that helps us just understand it and maybe mentally grasp it a little bit better and in a new way that just illuminates the value and the juxtaposition of the way we treat others and sometimes the way we treat ourselves.
Kay:
Real talk, if you were to turn the speaker of your brain or the microphone of your brain and put it on speaker and direct it at someone you love, would they want to spend more time with you or less time with you?
Shi:
Hopefully, your answer is more time. You’ve been doing the work. You’re a listener of Mentorship Quest, which means you’re like us. You’re on that quest for mentorship, for growth, for inspiration, for motivation, for more action and activity for growth and positivity in the world. But still, sometimes I wouldn’t want that microphone to broadcast. That voice can run rampant up there and I would never want to treat my best friend. Like that voice to your best friend sometimes it’s not very nice to your best friend either. But the voice that actually comes out of your mouth usually is.
Kay:
Right. Well, I think about a lot of the things that we do for our best friends. We listen to our best friends. We are forgiving when they do something that doesn’t please us, we’re supportive of them and their ideas even if they’re crazy, or we don’t agree with them. We are honest with them if they’re doing something that we think might be dangerous for them. These might seem like basic things like obviously, I would listen to someone else. I would forgive someone I love. I would support people I like. I’d be honest with them. But when you turn these questions internally, do you listen to you when that little, still small voice inside is crying for something that maybe you don’t want to do like eat the celery or clean out the kitchen drawer or whatever it is. Do you forgive yourself when you make mistakes? Are you gentle and loving with yourself? Are you supportive when maybe you fall off track or even when you just need a little bit of a pick-me-up and most importantly, are you dead honest with yourself or do you dance stories in your mind that help you fit a narrative that keeps you where you are?
Shi:
That was really well said. I think about when a friend comes to you and shares maybe a failure or a vulnerable moment. We almost always jump to comforting, to encouraging, to not necessarily justifying poor excuses. Not going into that realm, but say: it’s okay and these things happen, and you did your best, and there’s always next time or there are other people out there, or you’ll find the way or setbacks are part of it. But how often do we let that narrative feel silly to our own selves when we encounter those things and we think, well, I could’ve done better, or I should have done something differently or if they wouldn’t have, or if the economy would have, or any of those myriads of things rather than just allowing ourselves to be supportive like we would a best friend?
Kay:
Right, or if the best friend did do something that was really embarrassing you might say, “Yeah, that was really embarrassing. Oh, my goodness,” and share in that with them, laugh alongside them.
Shi:
And remind them that everyone has embarrassing moments.
Kay:
Exactly, and help them to overcome that. So, you find that you are listening, you’re forgiving, you’re supportive and you’re honest. So, giving yourself these same common respects that you might find yourself giving someone that you love could help you change that internal dialogue and maybe make your #ThoughtfulThursday a little bit easier to swallow.
Shi:
Alright. So, to remind you of what our American member of the British royal family tells us, Meghan Markle says, “If we treated ourselves as well as we treated our best friend, can you imagine?”
Kay:
Alright, gang, that means today’s quest is a #ThoughtfulThursday Quest, and YES, we can imagine, because right now we want you to do just that. Imagine yourself treating you like you treat your best friend. Now think it out. If you were to listen to yourself, forgive yourself, be supportive and honest with yourself today what does that look like? Now think about it. Imagine it, walk it in your head and then today get out there and walk it in your life. Are you ready?
Kay & Shi:
Let’s quest!