Posted on Tuesday 30 October 2007
Dear Ones, Our biggest lesson is self-love. No matter what it is we want to do in this world, self-love gives us the foundation to get there.
Why is this so hard?
Why do we keep forgetting?
Why do we feel we are not worthy?
Why do we do for others and not for ourselves?
Why do we spend time on things that don’t nourish us and let our time slip away?
What is it we are longing for?
The first step is to accept yourself just as you are right now. Don’t wait until you’ve recovered. Don’t view yourself as “good” or “bad” because you’ve had a slip up. Accept yourself just as you are right now, eating disorder or not. Feel what happens in your body when you do this. Feel that little bit of space, of relif that shows up when you truly accept yourself.
Accept Where You Are Right Now: This is the first key to recovery — and the first step towards loving yourself.
It does not give you permission to have anorexia or bulimia or any other addiction. Acceptance instead, gives your body and mind permission to HEAL.
You cannot heal when you are in fear, frustration and doubt — these feelings just make us want to run away and hide. No one ever convinced me to recover from bulimia because of all the scary health issues I could get. It only served to make me more fearful — to keep me feeling scared and stuck. A failure.
You are NOT a failure. You’re a pure being of love who has lost his or her way and wants to reconnect.
Take Action: Do 1 Loving Thing for Yourself Each Day
How do you get back? Focus on loving yourself. Pick one thing to do that is loving towards yourself each day. Commit to doing this, no matter what happened in your day. Show your body and mind some love and bring the energy of love back into your life.
Notice what just one loving thing per day does to your body and mind.
You ARE Love and you ARE Loved. You are PERFECT, WHOLE and COMPLETE just as you are RIGHT NOW. Breathe that in and trust it. And for an extra bit of encouragement, take a look at this beautiful video:
Thanks for the lovely post Heather, it reminded me to do just that, accept myself no matter what. I think the hardest part is the critical voice within that gets us stuck in healing, in a way the critical voice just keeps you ’safe’, from doing ‘bad’ things. But it actually makes us into doing the ‘bad’ thing anyway.
Oh, how wonderful to find a post from you, Heather! I love this one. (Granted, I don’t think I have ever not loved one of your posts.
)
Karen sent this video on to me after you sent it to her, and it felt so soothing and healing to watch it. Thanks for sharing it again!
thinking of you!
with love,
~Emily
Hi Heather,
You are so beautiful. Thank you for this post.
You are very warmly loved, you vibrant woman!
Twila Finkelstein
Hi Tracey, Thank you for your comment — you are right, I do believe the critic inside us is a way we think we are staying safe.
Actually, I can recall when I was really playing a role (not who I TRULY am) in my corporate job. I thought I had to be this perfect, diplomatic, confined person and I was always in the safety zone. I worried a lot about how I behaved — and now that I look back, that worry was because I was playing a role and not just BEING who I am.
I thought I was being safe by being in CONTROL, but I was really in prison.
It’s nice to see what can happen when you break free. If only I had known back then that being who I truly am is the key. I got to practrice that a bit before I left my job and realized people really loved this freer me. It was a nice validation that the best of our personalities stay in tact and they only get better when we are free to be who we are!
Thanks for drawing that insight for me, Tracey!
With love,
Heather
Hi Em, Thank you for your kind words — it’s always beautiful to see you here and I’m glad you liked the video! It does truly open your heart, doesn’t it?
With the holidays coming, I think sometimes we feel alone, even when surrounded by our families and friends. For me, I know that’s when I was out of the present moment and into worry and fear — that so often comes with connecting to others that felt so scary to me!
Yet, every time I open my heart to love, a little of the fear leaves and more and more leaves over time. The move love I let in, the less vulnerable I feel — who knew?
Love is really the safe way, isn’t it?
Love,
Heather
Hi Twila, Thank you for visiting my blog and for your comment! Well, you know you are a vibrant woman yourself, so I appreciate the compliment!
I hope our paths will cross again sometime soon and until then, I hope you are having an amazing experience walking your truth!
With love,
Heather