Hello My Dearest Reader,
Thank you for reading, I love you… here’s what I’m thinking about this week….
So many of us long for love, work hard for money – and “go for broke” – pursuing goals and dreams, people and places.
Though, do we at the same time sit back and receive all we give and work so hard for? Do we allow the cycle to come full circle?
Receiving the hard earned fruits of our labor, the reward of achievement, is typically (what we think) we want most. Though, we may need to exercise a different muscle to actually receive it Habituated in doing, our input levels often aren’t in balance with our output. We all know how this can affect our self-care, food, and lifestyle choices.
A few Hail Merry mini chocolate pies later from Whole Foods, the feeling is bittersweet leaving my family in Tulsa, Oklahoma… and arriving my beloved New York City. The love and care of my family is so palpable it hurts. And the differences so vast, they teach me to dig deep in myself to bridge gaps. To mend the holes within myself, and with them. It’s been a long haul, though now the Great Unconditional Love and Acceptance Teacher is bestowing her gifts. She asks me to acknowledge and receive love in all her many forms; in all his varying sizes, shapes, nuances and subtleties. In its stillness, steadiness, and what seemed like a lack of expression. I’ve often missed this, as the all pervasive wound within spoke louder.
Not knowing if this will be the last time I see my elderly mother, or my much older siblings, time teaches me to not take life for granted, and to give thanks for every little moment we have together. It asks me to receive love in ways that I’ve been blind to.
I realize how much I’ve rejected what I most wanted. Receiving love as is – rather than what it “should be” – is allowing circuitry to finally come around and complete. I don’t need to work so hard in this place. Receiving teaches me to work smarter, not harder. Have you been working hard for love in your life?
Did I miss the enrichment of their love, because I didn’t know how to receive it? Did I negate a part of my own humanity because I couldn’t always accept theirs? Perhaps. The more I open up and receive it now, the more the wounded child inside realizes it was always there. So very healing. It’s never too late.
I also learn that love often comes in unfamiliar ways that challenge my heart to open, that asks me to acknowledge what is working, rather than focusing on what’s broken. It invites me to let go of the past, and let love in – now.
Though there are no guarantees, there’s still time to love and be loved, give and receive, and allow that little child inside to be loved, because she can finally let it in.
Perhaps its easier to take good care of self, eat well, exercise, etc… when we feel loved… simply because we receive what’s always been there.
Is your receiving muscle ready for exercise? May we open us and just let it in!
Bless your week of receiving love.
Amy
