The Harvesting Place

The best way to welcome love into your life is to give it first to yourself.

How is it that we learn this so late in life? Carving that love space within ourselves, or preserving it, is a life skill, but somehow along the way we learn to think of others first ~ be kind, be nice, be loving. And yet the greatest act of love is to direct that level of kindness to ourselves before extending it to others.

You cannot receive true love if you aren’t able to receive it from yourself first and foremost.

Easy to say, right? How many of us actually practice daily self-care?

We say we don’t have time to eat well, exercise or get a breath of fresh air, always serving our clients, our children, our partners or our friends. We feel the pulling demands that fill our days, breathless at night from the activity that pressed us beyond the breaking point.

Committing ourselves to authentic living can be pretty tough, especially for those of us conditioned to ‘make it right’ for everyone else. Making it right for ourselves can be wildly uncomfortable because it requires taking a stand beyond what we are used to.

It requires saying ‘no, that’s not right,’ in the face of someone else’s oblivion.

Somehow our egos think we will die or the other person will reject us completely if we speak from that deepest place within ourselves. The ego hides behind a mask to ensure it is safe, seeking agreement and acceptance wherever it can.

And yet that mask covers the most beautiful, naked part of our being.

When we speak authentically, we risk looking bad in the face of doing ourselves good.

Pretty ironic, huh?

As a recovering speedaholic who thought ‘getting things right’ would somehow make me acceptable in the eyes of others, I have learned a few things along the way:

  1. Perfection is a myth. Don’t expect it of others, and certainly not of yourself.
  2. Life is messy. So wear an apron. You can always wash it and move on.
  3. People may be persecuted for telling the truth, but the more people speak it, the higher the chances that the truth will prevail.
  4. Love is stronger than fear. Seek to love where you can, including yourself. Every day.

When we make a habit of loving ourselves, we create a vast space to harvest even more love for others. Go to the Harvesting Place. Remember to share it. And don’t ever, ever forget how worthy you are of the very love you give.

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