The Greatest Gift

Earlier today I had a conversation with a friend. We were talking about yesterday's blog post and how difficult it can sometimes be to allow yourself to feel joy, or love when your main intention in life is to serve others.

My friend's quandary is not unusual. Many people believe that it is selfish to be joyful, self-loving or at peace when others are not. Somehow we can get our love wires crossed when we make the connection with doing without, so that others can have. That may be true if you're talking about the Lenten Rice Bowl, but it is not true about love.

The gift of love (and it's by-products of joy and peace), is actually more abundant to share when the "giver" is filled with it too. The more compassion, forgiveness and love we have for ourselves, the greater our joy will be. When we are filled with joy and a feeling of well being, our blessings to others are even greater.

The next step is to see yourself as worthy of being loved....by anyone....including you. Of course, we all are worthy...no matter what. Dissatisfaction, frustration, annoyance and even anger with ourselves, does not help another soul. Our light cannot shine when we put a lid on it by denying we are worthy of it.

The truth is the more we love ourselves, forgive ourselves and understand we are doing the best we can in this moment, the greater our ability will be to embrace others with the same unconditional care.

There's no way around it. Loving you =More love for others.