Love Yourself

The response to yesterday's blog was amazing & several of you commented to me that being quiet is something that's hard for you or something you don't like to do.  Because of that I wanted to talk about the struggles I had with being quiet when I was younger.  To me one of the main reasons people are afraid or don't like to be quiet is because they don't like themselves very much, I know that was true for me.

It's important to understand that to give love you need to have love to give & that truly begins with loving yourself & being comfortable with who you are.  For me it took many years to get there, I grew up in a family of 5, I have 4 sisters & I'm in the middle of them.  A lot of pressure was put on me by my dad because I was the only boy & he wanted me to succeed.  The problem was he wanted it so much that I could never do enough to please him.  I was almost a straight A student, finished in the top 10 in graduating class in HS, was a pretty good athlete, involved in student government, chess team, choir & all the school plays.  But it was never enough for him & therefore I never truly knew who I was or what I really wanted in life.  I stumbled through life until I was in my mid 30's, that’s when my change began.

I was fortunate to meet Heidi who was very supportive of me, changing some of the things I didn't like about myself.  As I mentioned before, the change started for me with reading "The Return of Merlin" by Deepak Chopra.  He is still one of my favorite authors & I own 8-10 of his books.  I've also enjoyed Julie Cameron, James Redfield, Neal Donald Walsch, Gary Zukav & Marianne Williamson to name way too many.... LOL

Anyway, my change took time & I didn't really get past my fear of quiet until my dad’s death & the help from my life coach Susie Wise-Peterson.  What I learned is that you must forgive yourself for the things that have happened in your life.  As I've mentioned before the past is the past & you can't change it no matter how hard you try.  But, if you acknowledge it, forgive yourself or the other person or both & let the pain go you can move past it.  I've discovered that everything in your head, no matter how bad, can be changed by the steps I just outlined.  It's in that change of thought that you can be reborn to a more joyful/positive life.

Once I resolved the issues with my Dad, I actually loved being by myself & I enjoy taking time to be quiet.  I know the only way for me to continue to grow is to love myself so I can share that love with the world.  The change in me was/is dramatic & I know it can happen for you as well. Continue with me on this "Journey to Joy".

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the Day "Love yourself first, it's the only way to be able to share your love with the world."