I was speaking with a friend the other day who had just rediscovered the old truth that we must be kind and love ourselves because we are everyone. It doesn't do any good to go around loving everyone else if we can't love ourselves. How many times have we ended up recognizing this great truth again and again. We think that Swami wants us to be long suffering and sacrifice everything so that we can love all and serve all. All, that is, except ourselves. Yes, the self, the self which is in everyone. We may do a lot of seva and then get all sort of strung out from lack of self love, not of the real self but of that nasty small fellow
Taking care of ourselves becomes even more important when we get older and our resources are less. I guess we tire more easily and yet we still have the need to do more than we did before or even just as much. So along with loving ourselves and pacing our efforts we have to recognize our limitations and be happy about them. Goals should be more realistic and our love shouldn't be based on goals anyway. We have to learn to be satisfied with lower expectations. Sounds terrible doesn't it. Do you think Swami judges us on the amount of work we do? He has said so many times that it is our intentions which result in the love from Him. It should also be 'our intentions which result in the love from ourselves to ourselves.
But actually that love doesn't change does it? It shouldn't because love is omnipresent and is always there. It should certainly always be there for ourselves because we are omnipresent too. That love is atmic, isn't it? The fact that we are love and that we love ourselves is a very deep love which is not open to change. When we get right down to that level of self love it simply 'is'.
Ok so I did that part of ablog three or four days ago and have been waiting to finish. Every day I opened this blog but no idea came as a conclusion. I thought of sending it just that way but somehow it didn't seem right.
So I've said in essence, love and care for yourself because you are one with everyone else. Trouble is I've been feeling a little negative about certain people and not feeling 'in the flow.' I was wondering if perhaps loving yourself doesn't taking care of yourself and even protecting yourself from some people who don't act like friends.
I have a friend who is always saying that they have to protect their 'Mom” around people. I finally asked, 'Ok but who is going to protect me?' Didn't get a reply but I really do think we have to protect ourselves sometimes from people who might be abusive in some way.
Swami says we should love all and serve all but that if you're having a problem with someone, it's better just to stay away from that person. That may be difficult especially when that 'someone' might be a beloved sister. I've found that somethings are better left unsaid and certainly better not discussed. We all have our blind spots and discussions are not the answer. What is the answer? Leaving it up to Swami. I've been trying lately to 'let go and let God. You'd think after all these years I'd have learned how to do that but.....not so. If we do our best, He will do the rest. Trouble doing my best is an invitation to me to try to fix everything. There's an invisable line saying....'STOP
No comments:
Post a Comment