This week, what I’m thinking about is Love. Well, I guess I’m always thinking about Love, but this morning, after reading a great quote, I was really thinking about where Love starts.
Not sure who wrote it, as the book I was reading simply said it was from “a poet,” but it got me thinking. So here it is:
“He drew a circle that shut me out - Infidel, scoundrel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: we drew a circle that took him in.”
The language is a bit archaic, but the message is so wonderful. We win by including others in our circle of Love. I see it all the time. And it starts with ourselves.
So many times, we get upset with ourselves for being upset. Or judgmental of ourselves for being judgmental. Or impatient that we aren’t more patient. The list goes on and on. And yes, we may feel kindly towards ourselves for being kind, (certainly more fun than the others), but it is just the other side of that same coin - being selective in our Love.
What if we could draw a circle together with Love that took in all the parts of us? What if we could love our fear rather than be afraid of it? What if we could smile at our anger rather than being angry at it? What if we hugged the pettiness and jealousy?
A person’s biggest objection to this often sounds something like … “But if I accept this emotion, thought, or action, things will never change!” Is that really true?
How would you feel if you had a little angel sitting on your left shoulder, watching you for every “mistake,” giving you a running list of everything you have done “wrong” in your life over and over again, and growing the list every day? And what if you had a little angel sitting on your right shoulder, loving you and everything you do, and giving you beautiful visions of a different future, that would be even more fun and more fulfilling. Which angel would you rather tune into for your daily dose of motivation? Could you stand to listen to the angel that loves all of you? Just notice.
Here is another, more practical, way to look at this … at the very instant you have become aware of something, it is already in the past, even if just by the tiniest fraction of a millisecond. Let’s pretend for a moment that you cannot change the past, you cannot go back and do anything to change an actual event. You break a glass and there is nothing you can do to change that. You blamed yourself with harsh thoughts. There is nothing you can do, you cannot go back and NOT have had those harsh thoughts.
And let’s say you have a certain amount of attention. If you are using all of, or some of it, to try to change the past, how much less attention do you have for creating a beautiful future?!?