Thank you both for helping me nip this in the bud. Looking back at my original post and this conversation have been a fantastic reminder of how my monkey mind continues to pull me into the weeds of things through judgements about myself and making comparisons to others, to the past, and to the future. I know deep down inside I’m a good person and I would never ever try to hurt anyone intentionally, but the mind continues to throw slings and arrows at me. Not sure why it does it and I don’t think I’ll ever figure it out, but through mindfulness and meditation, I can at least recognize when this negative self-talk, guilt, and shame come up.

Your comment about monkey mind reminded me about my favourite scene from Kung Fu Panda. Like Po, I tend to experience a lot of self-doubt, making comparisons, self-judgement, and negative self-talk when it comes to dating and relationships. But we can all learn a lot from Master Ooguay. 😉