What are you willing to leave behind?

Oftentimes it takes a big disruption in our life before we slow down and get quiet enough to get to know ourselves. To ask ourselves what we want and how our life is really going. To look deep into our sorrows and find out what we need to heal them. Most days we’re doing the best we can just to hold everything together, so why would we purposely drag up things that were painful? 

Could it be that by asking the hard questions that we begin our conscious journey back to ourselves? So many obstacles get in the way of us living the life we desire.

There was a time in my life that I wanted to blame other people for my unhappiness. You know, if everyone would just do what I wanted them to do, I could be happy. I sure hope I’m not alone here. 

I think the path to having the freedom to live our most fabulous life is all about finding our way to fiercely loving ourselves. Sounds simple, right? I mean, we love others with all our hearts so why not ourselves? 

My journey to self-love has been a difficult one. I’m not sure I even realized that I didn’t have the same love and compassion for myself that I did for my loved ones. It showed up in sneaky ways like perfectionism, being critical, lack of gratitude, people-pleasing, and pushing myself too hard. All these obstacles kept me stuck in a cycle of self-loathing. There was a part of me that knew I wasn’t all of those things, and that’s where the pain came in. That part of me was kind, loving, and compassionate and wanted to be free to express itself. In order to be able to do that, I needed to receive those gifts from myself, too.

I love this passage from one of my favorite movies. It perfectly describes my journey to self-love:

“If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting and set out on a truth-seeking journey, either internally or externally. And if you are willing to regard everything on that journey as a clue and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared most of all to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be withheld from you.”

Eat, Pray, Love

Self-love is a choice.

Self-love is cultivated through awareness and a willingness to leave behind what no longer serves us.

The depth of self-love we have is a direct reflection of the love we are able to give others. The more we love ourselves, the deeper our capacity to love others.

Self-love is courageous. It takes courage to leave behind all our familiar ‘baggage’. 

Self-love is the truth of who we are.

When we change the world changes.

When we change the world changes.

When we change the world changes.