The Escape of Little Birds

The quiet man filled with worry kept shaving while his soul kept whispering beneath his reflection:

Loving yourself is like feeding 

a clear bird no one else can see.

And once in a great while 

if someone loves you enough

they may see her rise

from beneath your fear.

 

AS FAR AS THE HEART CAN SEE

Mark Nepo

To love someone is an act that seems to come easily, but to love our selves ... well that's a lot more challenging.  We are our own worst enemies and we judge our selves more harshly than any one else.  When referring to someone else, we lavish compliments and point out gifts and talents.  In discussion of our selves we are more apt to focus on our weaknesses.  

"You must love your self before you can truly love another," was a statement I heard as a young person.  It totally did not resonate with me.  Loving my self? How was that going to happen? I was too busy trying to convince other people to love me while attempting to become whatever they needed instead of being my original self.

As time passes, we learn there will be others who will never like us let alone love us.  We come to understand the false goal of seeking acceptance from all peoples.  Time turns us inward to our authenticity and it is up to us to learn to embrace it.  Once we begin to like who we are we eventually learn to love our selves and not care so much about meeting expectations of others. We turn to our own desires and dreams creating a passion which suddenly seems to be pulling our lives together.  In loving our true selves, we attract others to us. 

When we learn to embrace both our weaknesses and strengths, it is easier to accept others in their totality.  As we learn to be 'comfortable in our own skin', those around us become comfortable in theirs as well.

NAMASTE` is an ancient Sanskrit blessing meaning:

"I honor the place in you

where spirit lives.

I honor the place in you

which is of love, of truth, of light, of peace.

When you are in that place in you,

and I am in that place in me,

then we are one."

When we are able to develop this Sanskrit blessing into a way of living, we experience love in many forms.  It is in this NAMASTE` approach we just may catch a glimpse of little 'inner' birds escaping from beneath undisclosed fears.