This life is a maze.
One way in
one way out
so many ways to walk
with yourself
through the center.
There’s a lot said about the relationship to self being a template for relationships with others. You can only truly love someone else if you love yourself. That kind of thing.
But the whole notion can also feel, I don’t know, like a lot of puffed-up words.
Do we really mean it? What does it feel like, to truly love yourself? Do most of us actually find a relationship to ourselves one worth cultivating, or does our energy and care seem better spent on others? And isn’t giving to and caring for others actually the path to true fulfillment, while serving ourselves is a kind of, well…self-serving trap?
While I can say that I do love myself, I’m not always a good friend to myself. I appreciate that I have a good heart, for example. I appreciate how I see the world, although the details can be a bit tiresome. I respect myself in some big-picture ways.
But in the day to day? Oof. I can be a real bitch.
I treat myself in ways I wouldn’t dream of treating a friend. And when I’m not kind and generous to myself, you can bet I’m not as kind and generous to others as I could be. It’s an energy equation, and it doesn’t add up.
Sound familiar?
Thank god, meditation helps. Meditation is a great place to get to know ourselves, for starters—the ways we think, and over-think, our habitual reactions to being stressed or pressed. And if we truly practice, we have no choice but to become a better friend to ourselves. It’s the whole point.
We practice accepting ourselves as we are.
We practice extending care for the parts that hurt.
We practice letting it not be such a big deal when we get off track.
Life is a maze and there are so many ways to walk with ourselves through the center. We can stick to the well-worn ways, familiar and cramped. Or we can see how it feels to open up a little friendly space and see who’s there.
xo,
Christa
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