Happy Heart
by Donna Guillemin, PSM
Loving ourselves is important. And as experience most certainly teaches us, without self-love, our ability to give to others is greatly compromised. Resentment builds up when the giver is past giving or when the giver expects immediate return on his / her investment. The giver then finds herself in the situation of, “don't pass go … don't collect $ 200.00”. Without self-love, we sentence ourselves to a jail term with no possibility of bail, never mind parole!
The first idea is to invest in yourself, not just for the short term returns but for long term satisfaction. This kind of investment has nothing to do with ego and it most definitely has nothing to do with selfishness. It has everything to do with loving yourself because loving kindness starts deep within ourselves and then ripples out to embrace everyone and everything in its wake. Definitely high interest possibilities with unlimited return potential here. And within this wake (often generated by a wake-up call), comes wakefulness.
You do not need to believe that any of this is hard or that any of this is easy. It just is. Quite frankly, I'm still enjoying the human challenge and all that it brings. Sooner or later, we start to begin to glimpse the perfection and plan inherent within our very so-called imperfections. Our so-called imperfections are perfections within themselves. Perfect because they give us the opportunity to pay attention to all the things that are bugging us and to recognize them for what they are …bugs in our ears. Opportunities to extend loving kindness towards yourself and then to others. How can you go easy on somebody else if you can't cut yourself any breaks?
Secondly, these investments are not redeemable as in a one to one equation. Addressing this concept can hopefully help us to disentangle from imbedded schematic behaviours such as if you rub my back, I'll rub yours. Yes, it is easy to do the things that come easy to us … to give when we feel moved by the moment… but the real giving is when you don't feel like giving: when you begin to give from your heart, unselfishly with no strings attached and with no notion of immediate gratification.
Remember, the better invested in your own well being, the better position you are in to give of yourself. Do not allow yourself to be lulled into the false emotionally security of a one-time investment plan. The idea is to create and cultivate a daily personal investment and long-term savings plan. Only this can guarantee that your spiritual bank account never runs dry. At the least, you might just be able to concede that by all accounts life is half full instead of half empty. So if and when your spirit bucks or buckles, it might just be time to sit up and pay attention. In this way, we might be able to find our way through life, one day at a time ... and remember one spiritual buck goes a long way.
Donna is available for Plant Spirit Medicine sessions at the Centre every Tuesday; other times also available upon request.
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