“Maybe the most difficult stranger to welcome is the one who lives inside us.” ~Mirabai Starr, from God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam
How do you deal with those parts of yourself that you don’t like? It’s only through welcoming them in that we have the opportunity to transform them.
How could you better welcome the stranger inside of you?
Art work credit: https://pixabay.com/en/woman-art-abstract-vintage-girl-2068125/
“You are not what has happened to you. Only Love has the final word in who you are.” ~James Finley
Never let yourself buy into the illusion that are you just a collection of the things that have happened to you. Those things may shape us, but they are never who we are. Only Love—the Love that loves us totally, completely, unconditionally, and without end—knows who we truly are (and loves us anyway).
“Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.” ~Parker J. Palmer
In this season of so many setting resolutions of how we will change our lives in the coming year, taking time to listen to what our lives are telling us about who we already are seems like a wise starting place.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~Mark Twain
As we head into a new year, it can be tempting to focus on how we will try to better conform to who others think we should be or to better squeeze ourselves into a “safe,” confined life. What if you were to dream larger and aim for becoming a bigger, more outrageous, more authentic version of yourself instead? What would that look like for you?
“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.” ~Og Mandino
As we approach the shortest day of the year tomorrow (here in the Northern hemisphere), it’s helpful to remember to find the beauty in the darkness of our lives as well as in the bright places. They each have their place and their value.
Blessed Yule (or Winter Solstice) tomorrow!