I have said this most of my life. It is true for me. And my true meaning is that I love unconditionally or without conditions placed upon it. Does it mean that I will agree with everything you say? No, but I will love you anyway. Does it mean I will condone bad behavior? No, but I will love you anyway. And in loving myself the same way, without condition, it may require that I distance myself from you if you are unkind to me, but I will love you all the same.
There is no switch within my heart that I may turn my love on and off because I simply love, unconditionally. And should I choose to separate myself from you to protect myself for a time, it does not diminish my love for you. I told my son, many years ago, I love you but right now I do not really like you all that much and it is not you personally but your behavior. Which was true. As a mother, it is hard to watch your child self destruct by their own choices. So as much as I loved him, it was hurting me and I chose to distance myself from his activities. He was an adult and free to make his own choices but I did not, out of love for myself, have to, nor choose to, witness any of it.
And even while distanced from those I have chosen to distance myself from for periods of time, I loved them, thought about them and prayed for them. Because I truly love them. But I also love myself. In order to love fully, you cannot love yourself less than you love anyone else. And since we are all connected what you do against yourself, you do against all. Yes, it hurts when I hear others demean themselves or anyone else and more so when they demean themselves. Because you cannot demean anything you truly love.
Yes, people lash out when they are hurt and it hurts others when they do. And I get that people do that as they are human. But if you can remember, in the heat of that moment, to stop, take a deep breathe, let it go and not lash out in hostility, you will not be adding negative energy to the world, which affects everyone. If there is a wrong done, it is possible to state it calmly, to point it out, then move on. There is nothing wrong in speaking up, it's how you speak up that matters.
I went a little wayward there, as I do tend to digress, but this is my process and I speak from the heart, where:
My love does not have an on and off switch.
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