Respect and Peace

"When we respect someone, we're able to be at peace in their presence by suspending our inclination to be arrogant."  -- page 221

I read this in Wayne Dyer's book, "Inspiration," the other day and it stood out to me. The more it sank in, the more it resonated.

Think about the people who you have a hard time being at peace around. Do you respect them?

The answer to this question for myself was a resounding "No."

At first I didn't want to admit this. Who wants to admit that they don't respect other human beings? It's not a nice thing to admit, after all. And I like to think that I do respect all living things. But if I'm being truly honest with myself, I realize that's not 100% the case.

There are certain individuals in my life that I just seem to be on a different vibration than. There's nothing "wrong" with them, it's just like we don't speak the same language sometimes. Ok...a lot of the time.

These are the people who I often find stressful to be around. In other words, I have a difficult time being fully at peace when in their presence.

I hadn't equated this to not respecting them until I read Wayne Dyer's words. I still feel that I do respect these individuals (and all people) for the most part. But when around these people, I have a hard time getting out of my ego mind. As Wayne states, I have an inclination to fall into arrogance... feeling like I have to prove myself in some way.

It's interesting to me... this relationship between respect and peace.

                                     

On the flip side, when I think about the people, or living beings (because it's often not people at all), that I do fully, completely respect... I am totally at peace.

I feel this way when around animals and nature. That's because there is no need to prove myself to those beings. But humans are a different story.

This is something I need to work on. This quote, and this blog post, has made me see that even more. Respecting other people doesn't have anything to do with them. It comes from within. Also, you can't fully respect someone else until you respect yourself. After all, we all are part of the same source.

Respecting myself is something I've struggled with my whole adult life. So begin there.

As the quote above says, "Peace begins with love and respect." To fully be at peace, you need to start with mastering loving yourself and all others, as well as respecting yourself and all others.

Drop the arrogance. 
Focus on love and respect. 
Relish in the peace you will feel there.  

Always Strive to be the Person You Want to Be

We all have our good days and our bad days. Our proud moments and our not-so-proud moments. The sides of ourselves we try to keep hidden from others, lest they run away from us in shame and disgust. The lesson here is to always strive to be better.

A better version of you.

Strive for more of those proud moments...where your love and grace shine through. That's not to say to push down those ungraceful parts of your personality. On the contrary. Embrace them...but at the same time make a conscious effort to improve upon them.

And thanks to the Universe, thanks to God, we get new opportunities to grow and "be better" every day.

          


There was a specific part of Elizabeth Gilbert's Facebook post yesterday that jumped out at me. Here it is: 

"Kindness says to the angry person, to the bitter person, to the difficult person, to the scary person: 'I may not understand you, but I understand that it's difficult to be a human being, and I'm sorry you're suffering. We are all just children of God here, doing our best.'"

"It is difficult to be a human being." 

We all get this. We all wish others were more lenient with us... so why are we often so hard on others? Why are we so judgmental, critical, and downright mean...when in actuality, they are likely not doing anything worse than what we've done. 

Sure, it may look different on someone else. They might choose to express their humanity -- their less-than-perfect-ness --  in different ways than we do. But it's all the same. We're all human. Just doing our darndest out here. 

This reminder has been showing up in my life again and again recently. Definitely the Universe telling me I need to improve in this area (as is usually the case when you notice a recurrent theme in your life). 

So I'm trying. No -- I'm doing. I'm doing my best. As is everyone else.  

New Normal

Hi my lovely readers!!  It has been a long time since I've written and I apologize for that. On October 13, 2015, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. So I have been adjusting, or trying my best to adjust, to my new life as a mother. And that's what I decided to write about today...

Throughout our lives, we often encounter twists and turns and need to reestablish our footing and identity. This has certainly been the case for me.
         
                                           

I am thrilled to be a mother and am excited to watch my son grow up and become who he's meant to become. But at the same time, I feel a certain sense of loss of myself. At least for now (my son is 5 weeks old), I'm unable to do a lot of what I used to enjoy before this huge life change. I haven't been able to run or work out like I used to. I haven't even been able to take my dogs out on long walks like I enjoy doing on a daily basis. And I certainly haven't been able to write lately.

I have felt feelings similar to this in the past. Feelings that my life is suddenly changed, usually for the better, but still, I have to adjust to a new normal.

This happens when I've gotten a new job, become involved in a new relationship, when I got married, and now most recently, when I had my baby. Each major life change involved a period of adjustment. And I am presently in the biggest life change of my life.

Where will I go from here? What will be the next step? How will my life look once things settle down? I have no idea.

What I am struggling with is figuring out who I am among all this change. A big part of my identity was that of an independent woman. A single independent women...until I got married. Can I still be an independent woman, as a mother? I believe I can. I just have to figure out how.

Other parts of my identity include being a runner, a competitive 5k participant, an animal caregiver, a world traveler, a risk-taker, and a writer. Can I still be all these things? I believe I can...someday...and somehow. Right now? No. Tomorrow? Probably not. But someday soon.

Whether planned or totally unexpected, life changes. It's what keeps things interesting, right? The key to success is to relax and feel your way through these changes. Follow your heart. Your next steps will appear. You'll know what to do and when to do it.

Trust that. Believe it. I do.

The quote below stood out to me. Life as a mother certainly is harder than life as a single person. Whatever your life change is, it may be harder too. Changes usually at least seem harder at first. Until we adjust. Until we become stronger and competent in our new role.

And this takes time. Be patient. Do your best. That's all any of us can do. Just get a little stronger every day.