Today is the last day of extending love to guilt for this month three of my Twelvemonth of Self Love project. What is exceedingly obvious now is that guilt is not the truth about me. It is but a story of “not-me” I believe for a while until I return to my right mind, or sanity or the awareness of God-is-Love’s Presence. I have learned I can drop the veil of guilt at any time and experience the truth of me in that moment by extending love to my thoughts and feelings even with, perhaps especially with, guilt. I can do this in bed, at the airport, washing dishes, taking a bath, listening to a eulogy and while hearing my heart. In the moment I drop the pretense of not-being-me, not-liking-me or being-ashamed-of me, I am left with me. It’s not so bad. Being me. Being……….here…………………now.
Love’s Presence in the form of all of the qualities of Love is available to me at all times. When I am experiencing a block to my awareness of Love’s Presence (and I know this because I am in pain, unhappy, feeling lost, lonely or left out) I can choose again for Love by welcoming and noticing these calls for love.
Spend a few minutes contemplating the two lists below (in the boxes) one list of the things that can block our awareness of the Love(aka fears) and one a brief list of the qualities of Love that are ever present and will seep into our awareness as soon as we pause and ask to be shown. Notice if one of the blocks to Love’s awareness resonates with a particular situation in your life (or thought in your head) and then choose a quality of love to extend to it. Just like that. Extending love is that simple. Feel into the quality of love that drew you and then imagine pouring over the fear/block to your awareness of Love. Imagine greeting the fear as innocence, or embracing the fear as perfection. Let me know if you have a shift in perspective. Just BE with the two lists and see what happens.
guilt, regret, dread, avoidance, shame, blame, should, could, don’t want, want, seek, search, sneak, lie, fake, betray, hate, loathe, revile, disgust, drug, kill, smash, blanket, ignore, deny, forget, miss, plead, beg, cajole, irritate, skip, leave, exile, fry, electrocute, fire, let go, annihilate, erase, destroy, cull, die, end, stop, arrest
welcome, accept, embrace be, abide, remain, gratitude, thanksgiving, receiving, truth, wholeness, vastness, love, delight, encircle, innocence, purity, treasure, presence, spaciousness, wonder, give, shower, include, freedom, openness, grandeur, comfort, gentleness, tenderness, preciousness, dearness, honor, life, happiness, peace,
When I experience anything that blocks my awareness of Love’s Presence I can know it is but a reminder, a call even, to love. This is the perfect moment to extend love to my thoughts, feelings, actions, events that leave me feeling less than. Love always meets me where I am and reminds me of my wholeness, sanctity and holiness.
What I have loved about this month is training myself to LOOK at what is in front of me, especially when it feels as heavy and true as guilt. The joy and relief is in the strengthening of my awareness of Love’s Presence and the fact that guilt is NOT the truth about me. Guilt, it turns out, is also a friend, for now that I have spent these 30 days with you I know you are only here reminding me to love, to be the truth about myself thus seeing and embracing the truth about my brother.
