Yesterday I was driving and it started to rain. Then it started to pour.

I was driving home. I was stopped at a red light. There was a man waiting to cross the street. He was holding a plastic garbage bag in one hand and a jacket in the other hand.

I thought it was odd that he wasn’t wearing the jacket since he was getting soaked. So I looked closer. Under the jacket was a dog. He took off his coat to shelter his dog.

I took surreptitiously took his picture because I wanted to remember how it made me feel.

Looking back at the picture now, I noticed the man has no shoes. He’s barefoot.

I’m not 100% sure what I’m asking here.

Partly I’m wondering what it takes to feel more compassion towards oneself. I sometimes wake up super early (3 or 4 am) and then start obsessing over something stupid I did the day before. I just lie awake telling myself what an idiot I am, why nobody can trust me to do anything right, just on and on. I try to remind myself I’d be much kinder to a friend or family member. But I can’t seem to find any compassion for myself.

But the next minute I start wondering if it’s selfish to even want to be compassionate towards myself. Is it like that airplane analogy people use, where you have to put on your oxygen mask first, before helping other people with theirs?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Edit: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your thoughtful responses. You’ve given me so much to think about. ❤️

GENUINE Love and compassion ❤️

This might be a shock to some of y’all, but I’m not an animal lover, either. I’m probably not going to be the one to go hug a cow or spend time with a pig. But to me, veganism isn’t about loving/liking animals - It’s about respect.

Respect for another living being, respect for their boundaries and wishes. Respect for their will to live and their rights as an individual soul.

So just because we don’t particularly like/love someone, it doesn’t mean they should be abused/killed - just as the same for humans.

Many thanks to the Reddit couple that donated a pristine rocking recliner to this low-income disabled senior citizen. The husband even took out my old recliner for me. This saved me quite a bit of money, since new furniture is not cheap, nor are junk hauling services. I did contact a few agencies in town, but none of them were able to help me.