Your very existence renders you worthy of love. You are here and you are you, and no one else walking this planet is you. Can you take that in for just a second? There are 7 billion people and only one you. Without meeting you, I love you, and wonder about you. What breaks your heart, and what lights you up and sets your soul ablaze? What’s happened on your journey so far, and where might you be stuck? Do the same patterns keep showing up? Do you blame, are you angry, confused, lonely? Or have you found your resounding YES, this is it, this is what I’m doing here with my blink of time? (Those are not mutually exclusive states, of course. You may have found your purpose but we will all experience moments of doubt, fear and despair because life can be so heartbreaking sometimes and because this work of being human is not easy). What’s your favorite thing to do when you have a day off, and when was the last time you laughed, like, a really good laugh, that made your cheeks and your stomach hurt in the best way?
There is no greater feeling than the feeling and the practice of love; giving it, receiving it, and having it at your center. Because it will open you and challenge you and lead to your full expansion and expression. It takes courage to love, to make yourself vulnerable. And sometimes you will be hurt and disappointed, and other times you will be amazed and delighted. But caring about each other is where it’s at. (In case you were wondering where it was ;)). You can spend your days amassing stuff, or you can spend them giving love. At the end of your life, I do not believe you’ll be focusing on how much stuff you have; I believe the measure of a life well-lived is defined by the amount of love you allowed to flow freely from your heart.
Love everyone. Trust that each person you meet has his or her own fears, struggles, doubts, confusion, pain, loneliness and difficult trail to navigate. The person smiling at you may have wept into their pillow last night. Remember that your first job is to protect the expansion of your own heart, so you have that well to draw from wherever you go. Sometimes this will mean that you will have to say no, and “no” may be exactly what a person needs to hear for their own growth. And it may be the word you need to release for yours. If love is at your center, you cannot go wrong. And, love IS at your center. We are built to share it with each other. To spread it gleefully and fearlessly in every direction. If you want to be happy, see what you can do to uplift someone else. That’s a shortcut to your own feelings of purpose and light and joy that has never failed me. Sending you love, and hoping you uncover your gifts and give them away to everyone you meet, because you’ll never run out! Ally
Ally, Thank you for this post! So beautifully written. You’ve put into words exactly what I have been feeling and thinking about lately. What a lovely thing to read this morning. Thank you!!
Hey Erin! So glad this spoke to you, and sending a hug!! Love, Ally