When you love another,
How do you sacrifice,
Commit to,
Be honest with,
Even when and especially when it's hard?
How do you see how they are a sacred human being?
Can you see through the hurt stories that they tell themselves and see through to their pureness,
To their innocence,
And all of the beauty and magnificence that they are?
Do you see God in their eyes?
Can you give them room to breathe,
Love flaws,
Doubts,
Wounds,
Hardness and all,
Love them even when their walls are up and allow for them to fall down?
How much can you hold and do you at the simplest level choose and desire to be in their company?
Do you love to learn what makes their heart sing,
Their eyes light up with joy?
Do you feel grace at the sound of their exhale?
This is to love another and to turn love outwards,
Which we have learned to do so well.
This is the way that we dream to be loved and that we dream to love another,
But I know deep down that you long for this from yourself,
My love.
Have you ever stopped and wondered and opened to what if you gave this to yourself?
To fill yourself up with the sweetness of your own heart.
I ask that if you feel numb or confused by this question,
To imagine a beloved one.
To feel the love that you are giving outwards,
Your love,
Your unique fingerprint,
Your unique essence of love,
Feel that and see if you can turn it around.
The light shining back at the light,
I ask you,
Do you see God in your eyes?
Do you know how to hold and breathe life into and ask what is needed?
Can you see through the hurt stories that you tell yourself?
See through what you have taken on and support and breathe life into your vision,
Your purpose,
Your hopes and your dreams.
Can you stand beside them with full faith just as you would for another?
Do you trust your words and intentions?
Do you,
At the simplest level,
Choose and desire to be in your own company?
Where have you been turned around?
Losing this deep desire to love and learn of yourself,
To be your own beloved.
Do you feel numb,
Ashamed,
Angry or afraid to?
Could you,
If just for this moment,
Dip one toe,
One toe into the ocean of love that you are?
That I know is scary,
That I know that you have not touched for so long.
The water is cold and it takes your breath away.
The gentle and steady voice you scour the earth for is right here in your heart,
In your hands,
In this breath and the next one.
Can you see the walls,
The static,
The numbness,
The disbelief?
All that is in the way of this deep love,
Devotion and reunion.
And love that too.
And forgive that too.
You know what you need.
To feel as you belong.
To feel cared for.
You know what you need.
You know that love surrounds and encompasses you and makes up your entire being.
That love is all around us and that we can always open to it.
And I want to remind you that this love for self is your birthright.
That now nothing is in your way.
This cannot be denied from you.
To be with despite all else.
To say I am not turning my back from you any longer.
Even when it is hard.
If you find that your head is heavy.
I offer that you just dip one toe and put faith in.
So you can see how free you truly are.
When I feel so much resistance to giving myself compassion.
I want you to see yourself with your arms wide open.
And the sun shining upon your face.
I want you to breathe and use your breath.
You see we do not deny.
We accept it because we know we are worthy.
How it feels to turn your love inwards.
Oh.
