How to think about the four immeasurable minds? I am curious about how to think about the four immeasurable minds in a practical way, please help me make sense of them (see detailed question below)

Background

In the book Teachings on Love by Thich Nhat Hanh he translates Mudita as Joy rather than Sympathetic Joy and explains that while other commentators have translated as Sympathetic Joy he prefers Joy because "Joy is for everyone"

This got me thinking that it may be practical to see two sides of the immeasurables (another example would be self-compassion)

My thinking so far

Below is how i like to think of the four immeasurables

Metta:


Self-love
Loving kindness towards others


Karuna:


Self-compassion
Compassion for others


Mudita:


Joy
Sympathetic joy


Upeksha:


Peace/Equanimity
Non-discrimination - between self and others, between good and bad


This way of thinking about them splits each of the first (metta, karuna, mudita) three into two parts, one for one-self and one for everyone else

In Buddhism we don't want to make a harsh distinction between self and others but from a practical point of view this can (for example) help us to remember to have self-compassion. One downside is that there is a larger risk of not seeing our suffering as the suffering of others and the suffering of others as our own

The last (upeksha) i have divided into two parts where the first is inner peace for oneself and the other is non-discrimination

Question

Is this (above) a practical way to think about the four immeasurables? (Practical in the sense of getting closer to living in line with them). Are there other ways to think about them that you can recommend and that can help us achieve living with them on a daily basis? (Please provide references to books or other materials if you can)

Grateful for help and with kind regards,
Tord
Maybe you find it helpful, but I'm not sure it's appropriate:


Because you don't want to be, especially, thinking about yourself
Because you might tend to have more than enough self-love anyway, without trying to develop more


Consider compassion, for example. Would you burn your hand? No, because it would hurt. Would you burn someone else's hand? No, because it would hurt. It's the same hurt and so the same compassion, the same reason.



Also I read that part of the point of the Brahmaviharas is in a social situation:


  They provide, in fact, the answer to all situations arising from social contact. They are the great removers of tension, the great peace-makers in social conflict, and the great healers of wounds suffered in the struggle of existence.


If they're for "situations arising from social contact" maybe they're not applicable when you're alone; and if they are applicable to you, then apply them in the same way that you'd apply them to anyone else.



The metta-bhavana practice (i.e. thinking of someone dear to you, then of someone who is less dear) is I think trying to develop metta (the same metta) towards all: so I see no benefit, see it as counter-productive, to create/view/distinguish two categories of metta, one for yourself and another for others.



I don't want to say that yours is a bad suggestion, I only don't see how to apply it. Maybe your suggestion is especially appropriate when you are alone and not with other people, to "help us to remember to have self-compassion" as you said. But maybe it's more beneficial to not hold a view-of-self.