Yes, the Beatles got it right when they sang “All we need is love”. It feels as if we are in a time of turmoil in many parts of the world and yet there is so much goodness out there. I am astonished at how often I meet amazing, full-hearted people who want to make the world a better place. With so much love available how is it that we are still struggling with hate, fear, anger? I believe that it starts with self love and the unfortunate lack of it.
As we grow up we are often given the message that to put a spotlight on ourselves is wrong, to draw attention to what we have achieved is unkind to others, to revel in our success is self-centered. Though caring for others is of course of importance, unfortunately, it often seems that we are given the message that it is more important than caring for ourselves. This eventually creates an imbalance as the giving outweighs the getting and we slowly but surely begin to feel an emptiness we can’t quite understand.
An empty cup can quench no thirst. You must first fill yourself up before you can then give to others. In other words fill yourself up with love so that there is enough both for you and for those you give to. If you observe someone who is always in a bad mood, always centered on themselves, always making non-love based decisions, I can nearly guarantee you that it is because that person is drawing from an empty cup. Where love does not exist, there is no love to give.
I know it sounds grandiose to say that self love can solve all problems but I truly do believe that is the case. Think about a time that you were feeling really good about yourself. Maybe you treated yourself to a morning of relaxation and meditation, then met with a good friend for lunch, in the afternoon you worked on a project that brought you both pleasure and abundance and that evening you went to a networking event where you had the opportunity to meet many interesting people and share what you do in the world. How do you think you would have shown up at that evening if you had filled your cup all day long with what brings you joy? Chances are you would have been looking for every opportunity to share your good vibes and to see how you could give as much as you got.
Now if your day had been the total opposite filled with constant problems, putting the priority on everyone else but you, focusing on what was wrong instead of what was right, how would you have shown up at your networking event? Probably in a very different mental space. You would feel depleted and unable to give of yourself fully. Sure this is an overly simplified and generalized example but it is to make a point. Very often we show up expecting to “perform” at our best but have not even considered how we can support ourselves so that it is an effortless task as opposed to a challenge.
It is my belief that if we can each begin to take care of what is going on within ourselves and addressing our own needs first, we can literally change how we show up and therefore how we impact the world around us. We will show up lit up instead of dimmed down or worse, turned off. Think of all that would be possible in a world full of lit-up people. Will you join me in spreading the self-love? Let’s start a wave of love that starts with inner healing and good felling and ripples out to touch each person we encounter.
On February 1st we will start a journey to self-love in my new program The Art of Loving You. The entry level is available at no charge to you. Join us! http://dawnzbournand.com/theartoflovingyou2017/