"Love is something you and I must have. We must have it because our spirit feeds upon it. We must have it because without it we become weak and faint. Without love our self-esteem weakens. Without it our courage fails. Without love we can no longer look out confidently at the world. We turn inward and begin to feed upon our own personalities, and little by little we destroy ourselves.
With it we are creative. With it we march tirelessly. With it, and with it alone, we are able to sacrifice for others," Chief Dan George
At this time in the US we live in deep division and strife. We are divided and strive against each other on moral, cultural, religious, economic, political matters and more. Public and private expressions of hatred are common place. Such division and strife nourishes more of the same.
Some choose apathy and depression instead of expressions of hatred . Perhaps more accurately, some of us turn our hatred inward. This feeds apathy and depression. Apathy and depression lead to victimization and breed more of the same.
I find deep wisdom in the words of Chief Dan George. His words ring true in my heart. We must have love. Our spirit is nourished by love. When our spirits lack love and are malnourished we become weak, our self-esteem weakens, our courage fails, we lose our confidence, turn inward, feed on ourselves, and in the end destroy ourselves.
When our spirits are nourished with love, we grow strong, esteem ourselves, have courage and confidence, we have strength and endurance, create beauty, and are able to pour ourselves out for great accomplishments.
What nourishes spirit? Love. What helps a spirit grow strong? Love. What heals a broken or wounded spirit? Love. Yes, we must have love. We must receive it from and give it to ourselves and others.
What is true for our human spirit is true for all spirits- the spirits of all other animals, the spirits of all plants, all the spirits of this earth. Every spirit needs love.
Yes, the words of Chief Dan George resonate for me as well. I thank you for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteWhat strikes me is that on one level, this appears to be such an obvious and simple way to nourish all our spirits. And yet, in practice, it is oh so difficult to do.
I find that many of us, myself certainly included, are prone to find fault and criticize ourselves for our lapses and failures, rather than express deep and abiding love for ourselves. I'm guilty of picking at my flaws, trying endlessly to improve what in some cases can't be improved. Instead I should be thanking my body each day for the way it moves me through the day and supports all I ever hope to accomplish. The same can be said for my mind. Rather than focusing on what I should have said or should have done, what I have done is wonderful. Each of us is worthy of self-love.
Even harder it seems is to tell those in my life who matter to me and who have made a difference to me just how much I love them. Why is it so hard to say the "L" word? Always it seems, each of us waits and waits until it's too late to say that one word that each of us longs to hear. Each of us longs to know that we are loved and cherished in all the ways possible to love someone.
I have a friend who is dying, and I've made it a practice to never end an email, phone call or visit with her without telling her how much I love her and how much she means to me. I want her to know this, here and now.
It's a simple practice. What needs doing is to extend it to every single person I love, every single animal, plant and rock. What needs doing is for each and every one to do the same. A sort of giant chain letter of love being passed on from person to person to tree to cat to person to cloud to snowflake to person. . . .
Sara, I agree. Love is very simple and we ourselves allow artificial barriers to prevent us from expressing love for ourselves and others. It doesn't have to be difficult. You illustrate the ease of loving in how you relate to your friend. Extending the practice to every single person, animal, plant and rock is a lofty and worthy goal. It's one we can make our way toward one small step at a time. Thank you for being the loving woman you are. As we do, our spirits will be nourished and grow even stronger than they already are.
DeleteYes, I agree, it doesn't have to be difficult. I also meant to say yesterday that I found your tweet about constructing 5 compliments to pay myself to be of great value. In trying to implement the suggestion, I began to realize how easy it is to criticize myself; how hard to compliment. It's a practice that should be right up there with expressing gratitude.
ReplyDeleteSara, I'm glad you found the practicie of complimenting yourself of value. Kudos to you for actually doing it. Keep adding to your list!
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