Vulnerable and Transparent

"Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable.

Be honest and transparent anyway."

Mother Teresa 

On one hand, it is frightening to remove all personal masks and stand accountable in front of others. On the other hand, there is acquired peace in simply being present at all times with all people. When 'just be' becomes a mantra, liberty and freedom are experienced deeply.

When courage is used to break a pattern, and all parts of the self are gathered together, resolution follows. Releasing all need for control of others and permitting the self to be honest and true, we begin to experience a full life right where we are. We receive and offer acceptance and love to the self as well as for others.

As we focus on exchanging love, respect increases. We extend freedom to ourselves and to others to be his or her truest sense of self. Standing upon an honest identity, one is able to move forward facing challenge and embracing gifts with the intention to make this amazing world a place of peace.

 

The Value of Jewelry or the Badge

"It's not how much we give, 

but how much love we put into giving."

Mother Theresa

The Christian Dior perfume re-gifted to you by a wealthy relative may not have the same depth in meaning as the gift from your elder neighbor who cross stitched a simple tea towel for your family.  Your favorite possession may have the least financial gain of any other item within the home.

Things are just things until we attach meaning to them or wrap them in strong memories.  What happens to be worthless to your sister may be priceless to you. "Fine, you take mom's jewelry, but I get Dad's badge!"  An equal trade for some.

The point is not so much about the item being extended as it is the tenderness, memories, attachment accompanying the gift.  When the gift is swaddled in our own love and extended as a gesture of sharing a piece of our inner self it gains importance.  When we transfer our reverence with the object, it truly continues to be a treasure.

Without Even Knowing

"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone

across the waters to create many ripples."

Mother Teresa

If we reach out to someone, do we think of it as extending kindness or as an annoying gesture?  Do we respond with compassion or resentment?  Furthermore, how do we ever pay back those who assisted us when we were in the first chapters of our life?  Did we ever express gratitude?

I am not referring to the obvious peers, but to the slightly known person who really saw us in our time of need.  The incidental ones we may have only seen once and never again.  How do we respond after all of these years, attempting to tell them how deeply they impacted our journey in life?

When I was younger, there were characters who played miniature roles in my drama.  They were elders at the time, so they have probably transitioned on to other realms by now.  I would want them to know in the deepest part of my heart, I remember them still.  They may not have changed the world, but they changed me without even knowing.