What if we could change this world we see?
What if we could think something new?
Would that be too scary?
What if we could change me and you?
Our thoughts have the power to make it all look gray
Our words have the power to to take it all away
Our actions have the power to hurt or to heal
Nothing really matters 'cept how we feel
There is a way to change the story
There is an idea for us to ponder
Reach inside for all the answers
If you can imagine you must wonder
The world we see right now
Isn't the only reality
We can think new thoughts and make it better
A better world for you and me
It will take a lot to make this work
There are no more prophets to hear
We are the ones that have come
To save us from a world of fear
Love has always been the answer
We must be our own best friends
Love ourselves to love another
Then the cycle of hate will end
I wrote this poem last week and will likely turn it into a song as I am long to do these days. But I questioned myself this morning about what it means to love ourselves. I have given this advice to two people I love recently and both of them were hurting at the time. It didn't exactly fall on deaf ears but I could feel the question...how do I do that exactly when I feel so bad right now??
Does it mean that you try your best to fall in love with the human characteristics that make up what we appear to be on the outside? I think not. I think it means that we come to a place where we are in touch with the LOVE that IS us. To love ourselves means that we go inside and get acquainted with the LOVE that is always there, always present, because it cannot not be. That is what my friend Noelle is referring to when she tells someone they are "magnificent". It doesn't mean the art you just created or the song I just wrote nor how shiny your hair is nor how bright your smile may be. And yet it does because it also refers to the LOVE within you that is shining outward because you tapped into it and allowed it to be shared. That is when we are loving yourselves.
We don't always feel good about life. We have good days and bad days but that love is always there inside ready to guide us to be at peace in this moment no matter what is going on in our outside world.
But how to access this wondrous balm we are all ARE? I suppose it is different for each of us. I don't know anything for sure. There are lots of books that have been written, lots of songs that have been sung about love and how to find it. For me, it is to go inside and notice that inner silence, the still small voice and sit with her, get to know the LOVE there. Sometimes it comes to me when journaling and a poem just comes out of nowhere (just like the one I wrote on this page). This is when I feel connected and at peace. It is as if a muscle because the more I go there the easier it becomes to hear and feel this true self, the inner voice that is this energy I call LOVE. Others call it God and I don't mind that at all. It is what we are, what we have always been and what we will forever be.
So, on those bad days when someone tells you to love yourself more, before we hit them or walk away in disgust, maybe we could remember who and what we really are and feel that love for ourselves. I like to think of it as the love I knowingly give to my grandchildren with that really sincere smile on my face going inward as a gift to myself. It feels really good when I remember to do that when I am otherwise feeling bad. That is what it means to be your own best friend. Allow yourself to give to you what you give to others. Like praise and patience, time and tenderness. We so easily give it to the ones we love...hmm. Ones we love but not ourselves...
Love has always been the answer and maybe THAT is what is means to love ourselves.
We can change the way we see the world
We can think something new
We can love ourselves and each other
We can change me and you
We don't always feel good about life. We have good days and bad days but that love is always there inside ready to guide us to be at peace in this moment no matter what is going on in our outside world.
But how to access this wondrous balm we are all ARE? I suppose it is different for each of us. I don't know anything for sure. There are lots of books that have been written, lots of songs that have been sung about love and how to find it. For me, it is to go inside and notice that inner silence, the still small voice and sit with her, get to know the LOVE there. Sometimes it comes to me when journaling and a poem just comes out of nowhere (just like the one I wrote on this page). This is when I feel connected and at peace. It is as if a muscle because the more I go there the easier it becomes to hear and feel this true self, the inner voice that is this energy I call LOVE. Others call it God and I don't mind that at all. It is what we are, what we have always been and what we will forever be.
So, on those bad days when someone tells you to love yourself more, before we hit them or walk away in disgust, maybe we could remember who and what we really are and feel that love for ourselves. I like to think of it as the love I knowingly give to my grandchildren with that really sincere smile on my face going inward as a gift to myself. It feels really good when I remember to do that when I am otherwise feeling bad. That is what it means to be your own best friend. Allow yourself to give to you what you give to others. Like praise and patience, time and tenderness. We so easily give it to the ones we love...hmm. Ones we love but not ourselves...
Love has always been the answer and maybe THAT is what is means to love ourselves.
We can change the way we see the world
We can think something new
We can love ourselves and each other
We can change me and you
