30 Days of Forgiveness 2015 - Day 18 - Self-love and Forgiveness

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"Forgiveness is an act of self-love," --Don Miguel Ruiz

Yesterday morning I was feeling so stressed out about everything I have to do this week that I was kind of a mess. My instinct was to get busy and start crossing things off my list, but a part of me knew that this was not the answer. So I stopped and listened to this little voice for a few moments.

It said that what I really needed was to slow down, to take care of myself, to rest, to eat a little something and to just relax for a while. "I don't have time," my Egoself protested. "You don't have time not to," the little voice replied. And so I did.

I went back to bed. I pulled the covers up and closed my eyes and started to meditate, to send energy to myself, and to rest.

After a while I did the Violet Flame meditation and included some forgiveness work. As I did the meditation, I got the message that self-love (and self-care) is one of the keys to forgiveness. If we all took care of ourselves one hundred percent, one hundred percent of the time, there might be nothing left in the world to forgive.

Taking care of yourself can look different at different times. Sometimes it is a rest, sometimes it is a run. Sometimes it is saying NO, sometimes it is saying YES. Sometimes it is letting something go, and sometimes it is figuring out what to add in.

However you do it, do it with the knowledge that it is good for ALL.

[N.B. Coincidentally (or maybe not :) my friend Elisa is leading 30 days of self-love on Facebook this month. It is a great complement to forgiveness work.]

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