Friday, March 25, 2016

Imagine this! (Because it's true!)



If no one has ever told you, I will say this to you now. 



YOU are worthy and YOU are inherently good. 




You ARE worthy AND you are inherently good.




You are WORTHY and you are INHERENTLY good.



Imagine that. 


Imagine this, now, because it is true.


You don't need to prove this to anyone, or seek anyone's approval of your "inner-goodness." There is nothing wrong with you. You are not defected in any way, shape or form. There is nothing wrong with your body, your hair or your true heartfelt desires. You don't need to find ways to "be useful" as a means to justify being loved, as means of saying, without saying it, "I deserve to be loved because I am useful." Because nothing! You deserve to be loved by yourself, and by those who respect and honor your personal boundaries. Period. Because nothing! Do you feel me?

Of course, it's always nice to help others out. But, let’s take these five minutes to look closer.

All of this seeking to be of use, all of this seeking to be of service, can sometimes hide a weed underneath that needs to be uprooted and thrown away. It can sometimes mask this belief that if you don't provide this or that for others, then you are not useful, and therefore, do not deserve to be loved. I am merely asking you to examine this possibility. I also want to note, that this dynamic - the false belief that you must do ______ or exchange ________ in order to be loved - is not always the motivating factor behind seeking to be of use. You can give from a pure heart because you want to give, because you are full of love, because you were raised to contribute to the well-being of those around you, and it has become a feel-good habit for you and not because you are trying to prove anything at all. 

Though, you can give from a pure-heart, and give because you are full of love, and give because it's how your family raised you or it's how you decided you wanted to be as an adult (a person of service). These are all beautiful realities and roles to occupy. You could give for all these reasons, and you could still also hold a subconscious or even an unconscious belief (buried way down there, underneath your subconscious so much so that you are not even aware of this belief) that you are not lovable unless you do these acts of service for others. It is layered. Our minds can be a twenty-two foot story building, with each level housing a particular belief, branded by a certain childhood experience we integrated long ago as meaningful to us in some way. We may have then cleverly transformed this experience into a value, or, “right” and “commendable” perspective on what it means to be moral, to be upstanding, to be worthy and deserving.

My main encouragement today is, take the time to examine the roots of your branches - why do you do what you do? And although your external behavior, mission and actions may be digested as socially acceptable, perhaps even courageous, "all the rage," and praised, consider if you are doing what you are doing because you want to prove to yourself that you are "a good person" and a "wholesome moral person” and thus, worthy of love.

Or, do you do what you do because you know, without a doubt that you are inherently lovable, deserving of love, and inherently good? Please know that you don't need to do anything to be liked. Please know that you don't need to do anything to be worthy of love. You are lovable, period.

Can you accept this truth without unpacking it, over-analyzing it and finding situations where this truth is "untrue" and therefore rendered invalid in the recesses of your mind and heart? Can you accept that power -- all of that beauty? It can feel overwhelming, to accept the fact that you are inherently good. But try to push yourself to take this in - that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you in any way, shape or form; that you are here to embody love simply because you are love, and not because you need to justify your ability to be loved by anyone.


Always,

S.S.