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Three Thoughts:
Being willing to face your inner storms sometimes gets you so focused on your emotions and your past that you forget to look up and notice that you have actually taken many steps forward, that life is not the same anymore and that your behaviors are more vibrant and aligned with living in a way that supports your happiness. There is a moment of victory that eventually happens when you take your growth and healing seriously – you start to notice that you are no longer the same person who started the journey. Every day is not a great day, there are still plenty of challenges, but there is a new freshness to life and the low points are not as low as they were before. Tough emotions don’t take over your actions the way they used to. When you do react, it is no longer as intense or overwhelming. You are not perfectly happy all of the time, but that was never the goal to begin with, instead you feel a new sense of calmness because you more deeply embrace the fact that change is inevitable. You don’t fear the ups and downs, instead you glide with them. Joy is more available to you because you spend time cultivating your patience and your ability to appreciate the present moment. You know that there is still much to heal and more ways to grow, but now you are familiar with the rhythm of observing, accepting, letting go and allowing transformation to occur organically.
Fear and old hurt can make it hard to accept the selfless nature of love. In its highest forms, love is about giving, understanding, caring and all qualities that arise when you can look at another in an egoless manner and act in their best interest. Sometimes there is confusion, “if love is selfless, how do I go about taking care of myself?” The answer is that the love between people needs to be balanced with the self-love within you. From self-love arises communicating your needs, boundaries, and active commitments that help both people feel nourished. Yes, love is about giving, but self-love is about doing what you need to do to enhance your own inner light and knowing your own limits. Treating yourself well is critical if you want to build harmony with another human being. The interaction between love and self-love should help form a balance where both people can aspire to be selfless but at the same time are clear on what they need so that their personal happiness can be supported.
The ability to appreciate the perspective of another person is a great sign of maturity. Being able to see from different angles beyond the one that your lifelong conditioning has given you is only possible because your selflessness has helped you developed a healthy degree of letting go. If your ego is too dominant, then your attachment to your worldview becomes thick and inflexible. If your compassion has been amply cultivated through your growth and healing, then your mind will have the flexibility it needs to set aside what it knows so that it can truly feel and listen to a perspective even if it is in contradiction to its own. Being able to see the perspective of another does not negate what you personally observe. Life is multilinear and complex – multiple truths can exist side by side to each other. There is ignorance in holding one perspective as supreme, because in each situation and in each angle, there is more to know and see. Being open to expansion is not only a pathway to happiness, it is a key way to welcome wisdom into your mind.
Two Big Sales: 27% off Clarity & Connection and 3 for the Price of 2
I wish I could tell you when the sale will be over, but I don’t control the online prices.
You can get a copy of Clarity & Connection through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Book Depository for international orders, and at your local bookstore.
My first book Inward is currently 20% off the original price.
Journal Prompt:
What did you want to achieve when you started your growth and healing journey? How much have you changed since you began? How does your self-love protect you? Have you made progress in appreciating perspectives that differ from your own?
Links:
Clarity & Connection USA (27% off the original price)
Clarity & Connection Barnes & Noble
Clarity & Connection in Spanish (New)
Clarity & Connection Local Bookstores
Inward (20% off the original price)
Progress, Balanced Love, and Perspective
Always grateful for your gentle, yet strong & clear encouragement to face truth & embrace all that is. Your words have set a solid foundation for me and given me the courage to say, ' I am brave & not the same person I was when I began this journey.' 💜🙏🏼
Outside of a relationship what are some ways individuals can practice self love?