Accepting ourselves, the ‘All’ of us, is not easy. We carry wounds from the trials of life that can sometimes, and sometimes often, make us unloving, unforgiving, and unmerciful to others and ourselves.
We do not love the grumpy of us, the sad, the hostile of ourselves, the parts of us that act as if we do not care. We name them as ‘not us’ and so drive a sword into ourselves, separating our consciousness into the good and the bad, the worthy and the unworthy. We declare this part of us a disturber of the peace, a foe to our purpose, an antagonist to our harmony and so become the intolerant parent to the hurting child within; the part of us that is in distress, in need of understanding, in need of love.
The attitudes that these unloved parts of us cause are the hardships we endure while we learn another way of being.
This other being that we wish for, must be summoned from the deep heart of ourselves because it requires great strength and compassion to be gentle to ourselves, and courage to hold ourselves in a loving embrace while we shed our tears of pain.
This act of healing is no slight thing, it is a profound act of life, a self-acceptance that carries the dearest light of love.
It is a light that transmutes the weight of our sorrows into the treasured moments that we will always love.
Peace is Born from Acceptance
Peace is born from acceptance; from allowing what is, to simply be what is. It puts to rest our claims on the world and the expectations we have upon ourselves. When we hold peace, we know, at least in that moment, that all is well.
Peace may happen from a job well done or a day well lived, from times of solitude or from a moment of love. It can appear in a letter received, a phone call made or from a star filled sky. Whatever the cause, when it happens, when we find a place or time of peace, we become whole again. We welcome the family of ourselves and know that we are enough.
Peace is what we love but often lose; life is just too wild for it to stay for long. When something disturbs our peace, we crush its delicate flower; we break the home of ourselves, and peace can no longer stay. We must then again, try to remember who we love to be. because it is who we love to be that will always guide us to the sanctuary of peace.
When peace approaches, our anxiety fades. We relax and something within us smiles, as if we were returning to the comfort of home after a long journey. We need times of peace; it nourishes the soul and gives us the strength to take on the task of living. The memory of its presence gives wisdom to our purpose and a care for the gentle balance of ourselves.
To have peace is to re-join the harmony of the moment and of ourselves. It enables the mind to see above the cluttered mists into the heart of life, and into the heart of ourselves. We can spend much effort protecting ourselves from things that disturb our peace, but the world is always messy and, in the end, to make a home for peace, we will have to heal the pain we carry within ourselves.
You are Never Alone When you are at Peace with Yourself
There are moments of life that are different from the collected moments we claim as our self. Moments that are not prescribed, defined, or explained by the habitual actions or our memories. They are the moments that we draw our moments from; the causer of what is, the sacred moment. They appear when we embrace the mystery of life. those times when we abandon our attempt to define its meaning and enter the flow of life. When we do this the sense of time dissolves and we are then no longer the witness to the moments story, but its intimate companion. This gentle act of surrender separates us from who we thought we were. We become free, no longer alone and slip into the company of the universe.
Then, for a moment in time, we are more than who we thought we were and become a part of all that we see. All is forgiven and all is welcome. We have come home to our self and are no longer divided. Within this tender moment, a greater sense of truth prevails. The benign nature of life is seen in the world and known within us. A feeling of celebration emerges from within for we have become in love again, and the noise of disarray is replaced with a sweet song of trust, a knowing that life means us no harm. That we are, were and always will be well.
So, we think ourselves out of the moment, look to decide its meaning; to give it a purpose that fits to what is already known. In doing so we assign it to the catacombs of memory and forgo its beauty.
But the moment of the now is always there, it was there before we thought and will be there after we have thought. It is the living moment that exists outside of time. It has no season and no agender. It is the source of life, of every breath, every step we take. It is where the grace of life can be seen, its power felt and where soul can breathe. It is the place where we become at home with the ineffable and where we are at peace, for there is no need to be anywhere else. It is love for when we love we become a fraction of the divine. We are a part of all that we see, and all is well.
Article by More to Life Elder – Toby Negus
Article published in More to Life – Edition 64
