Sunny Side Up: Try a little loving-kindness on yourself

Earlier this week, I was e-mailed by a reader who, after explaining a number of their faults and struggles, asked how they could “transcend themselves to become someone new and start again”. When we feel unsure about ourselves, or when our feeling of self-worth is such that we wish we were someone else entirely, it can appear impossible to believe, let alone see, our qualities, strengths and values – even though they exist in abundance.

Sometimes, a shift in perspective is needed. The writer Oscar Wilde offered profound and to-the-point advice for this kind of struggle: “Be yourself – everyone else already is taken.”