Simply Take Action

"It's important that loving another person

doesn't take priority over listening

to yourself and knowing

what you need."

Thich Nhat Hanh

HOW TO LOVE

Women have been trained to acquiesce to the requests of men.  It takes years to give ourselves permission to decline a suggestion or directive.  Time lumbers on before we can say a simple no without feeling guilty or lesser than.  

As I harvest my journals, I find the spiral  continuing to swirl through this issue of prioritizing.  For years, everyone came first even if it were detrimental to my peace of mind.  At some level I insisted that going along would ensure peace, even though it never did.  The more I gave, the more was taken.

When we are depleted and desperate, we are willing to explore what is exhausting our nature, energy, and love.  Women have been taught it is selfish to put ourselves first.  We carry lists of responsibilities to others, and time is lost for identifying our own personal needs.  If our hopes and dreams were never recognized as a child, the greater the likelihood we will continue to be unaware of them.   

Shame, guilt, and embarrassment can easily repress our true desires.  Even when given the opportunity, we may feel foolish is expressing our longings.  We risk being laughed at and suffer rejection when not listened to.  We tell ourselves it is easier to remain silent.

There comes a day, hopefully not too late, to realize taking the easier road of silence leads to a longer road of suffering.  We have the right to speak our truth, even if we are wrong.  In voicing our opinion, we recognize our own value and our very words resonate through our being.

If we find ourselves unable to verbally express our feelings, we can creatively express our experiences through art.  We have numerous options, but we must follow through and choose.  Will listening to music or playing an instrument calm us?  Can we find peace through painting or drawing or writing?  Meditation or yoga are beneficial as well as just being outside, lost in nature.

Simply take action.  Let the movement bring us to a better place where we can feel alive, recognized and loved for our own unique existence.