Eat. Pray. LOVE.

"....."This is it." I said to my mind., "This is your chance. Show me everything that is causing you sorrow. Let me see all of it. Don't hold anything back." One by one, the thoughts and memories of sadness raised their hands, stood up to identify themselves. I looked at each thought, each unit of sorrow, acknowledged its existence and FELT (without trying to protect myself from it) its horrible pain. And then I would tell that sorrow, "It's OK. I Love you. I accept you. Come into my heart now. It's over." I would actually FEEL sorrow (as if it were a living thing) enter my heart (as if it were an actual room). Then I would say "Next?" and the next bit of grief would surface. I would regard it, experience it, BLESS it, and invite it into my heart, too. I did this with every sorrowful thought I'd ever had- reaching back into years of memories until there was nothing left.

Then I said to my mind, "Show me your anger now." One by one, my life's every incident of anger arose and made itself known. Every injustice, every betrayal, every loss, every rage. I saw them all, one by one, and I acknowledged their existence. I FELT each piece of anger completely, as if it were happening for the first time, and then I would say, "Come into my heart now. You can rest here. It's safe now. It's over. I love you." This went on for hours, and I swung between these mighty poles of opposite feelings-experiencing the anger thoroughly for one bone-rattling moment, then experiencing a total coolness, as the anger entered my heart as if through a door, laid itself down, curled up against its brothers and GAVE UP FIGHTING.

Then came the most difficult part. "Show me your shame," I asked my mind. Dear God the horrors that I saw then. A pitiful parade of all my failures, my lies, my selfishness, jealousy, arrogance. I didn't blink through any of it though. "Show me your worst," I said. When I tried to invite these units of shame into my heart, they each hesitated at the door, saying "No-you don't want ME in there....don't you know what I did?" And I would say, "I DO want you. Even you. I DO. Even you are welcome here. It's OK. You are forgiven. YOU ARE A PART OF ME. You can rest now. It's over."

When this was all over. I was empty. Nothing was fighting in my mind anymore. I looked into my heart, at my own goodness, and SAW ITS CAPACITY. I saw that my heart was not even nearly full, not even after having taken in and tended to all those calamitous urchins of sorrow and anger and shame..............."




MY heart can easily receive and (for)GIVE even more
A lot MORE.
ITS LOVE IS INFINITE.


So why not give it freely?
Fearlessly.
-Without-
Conditions.
Limitations.
Reservation.
Judgment.
{The Need to Control}

(after all....)

Love
TRUE LOVE is not captured.
{But}
truly
FREE