It’s taken me a long time to discern the difference between being self-absorbed and self-appreciative. I think I always shied away from embracing the good things about me, feeling a little ashamed and self-indulgent.
It’s time to change that script! Not that I’m perfect, by a long shot…but I can say this about me… “I am a resilient SOB!” I’ve learned over these years that each test, each setback, is an opportunity to self-reflect and find strength I didn’t know I had. I’ve even realized that the “mistakes” were just detours and the scenery was pretty interesting, even if unexpected.
There are so many distractions in this world. People tell wrong-minded stories about who we’re supposed to be. We spend decades trying to be that person, the thin one, the popular one, the lovable one. We give away our power to other poor souls who are scuffling along just as we are. We seek approval ahead of wisdom.
Without self-reflection, making friends with myself and loving this person, we are on an endless quest for the impossible. At some point, I realized I would never be fulfilled unless I embraced my flaws and my talents and worked my way along the Path accepting both.
As a younger person, I could have had the most persuasive teacher along these lines, but there truly is a ripening of Spirit that needs to occur over time. The fruit gets sweeter as it ripens.
Every day I promise to check my familiar face in the mirror will and thank me for staying the course, for recovering from disappointments and heart-break. I will thank me for loving people without judgment. And I will thank me for arriving at the point where I joyfully offer my legacy to whomever is interested.
I will forgive me for being foolish and immature at times. I will forgive me for an undisciplined mind that sometimes strays from the Path of clarity.
These “love songs” will be sung every day. It would be wonderful to expand the solo into a chorus. I’m listening…
With love,
Rosanne