Celebrating the Path to Love

“If you want the moon, do not hide at night. If you want a rose, do not run from the thorns.
If you want love, do not hide from yourself.” —Rumi

While we usually think of Valentine’s Day in connection with romantic love, let’s shine the light on celebrating our own path to cultivating more love within ourselves.

In the purest sense, love is a natural, spiritual energy that exists in each and every one of us. The poet Rumi describes love as “the mirror of divine beauty.” It shows up in big and small ways as compassion, our desire to care for and make others happy, being kind and thoughtful and being inclusive in wishing happiness for others—even those we don’t know. Our love can extend outward to include caring for all the living creatures and our shared home, the earth itself.

While many of us have set an intention to be more loving in our lives, we often fall short.

Why? Because we can only love as freely and deeply as we love ourselves.

I like to think of our time on Earth as an opportunity to evolve to become more compassionate beings. As we peel back the layers by discovering who we are, healing old wounds and understanding what’s behind our fears, we begin to uncover the essence of who we really are—love.

It’s pretty simple. Want to feel loved? Love yourself first and the rest will fall into place.

If self-love is the catalyst to experiencing more love in our lives, self-awareness is key. To help you discover where you may be blocking love from flowing in your life, let’s start with answering some basic questions:

• Am I compassionate toward myself when I’m struggling?
• Do I nurture my whole self (mind, body, spirit) in ways that I enjoy?
• Am I doing things that bring me joy?
• Have I been kind to myself, especially after I made a mistake?
• Am I listening to what my heart is trying to tell me?
• Is my inner dialog supportive?
• Do I allow space for myself when I feel confused or lost?
• Do I judge or scold myself?
• Did I forgive myself for something in my past that I’m not proud of?
• Am I accepting of myself with all my imperfections?

If you fell short of where you’d like to be when answering these questions, don’t dismay! Send yourself a little love for your willingness to acknowledge where you are right now. Being honest is one of the first steps on the path to transformation.

You’re a work in progress. As you become more loving toward yourself, you’ll start to experience a love that has no boundaries.

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!