Our deepest longing is for peace, love, and harmony.  Our life is a brief, precious journey, and our mandate is the expression of our unique gifts.  To express our individuality is to reclaim our divinity. ~ Debbie Ford
Happy Sunday!
I am just finishing up my reading of Debbie Ford’s book “the Dark Side of the Light Chasers” that I had written about last week.  What struck a chord with me in what I read this week was what Debbie called our ‘light shadow’.  This is all the good things about ourselves that we hide in the shadow because we have been taught that to acknowledge the good is bad.  As children we were taught that the say something good about ourselves is bragging and arrogant.  We were told that if we speak of good in our lives then it will bring on bad luck or the ‘powers of evil’!
To be whole, and acknowledge that we are a perfect replica piece of the whole that is God, we must embrace what we judge as the good and bad aspects of ourselves and bring them into our own acceptance.
Debbie gave an exercise in the book which required stating “I am” before a long list of positive traits.  As I worked through the declarations I was asked to write down the ones that seemed difficult to state.  One of many words that I found myself having difficulty with was precious.  I am precious.
I have been repeating this to myself throughout the week so that I could become comfortable with it and can accept this in myself.
As I am now writing I think about what is precious to me?  My cat napping in the window a couple of feet from me, close enough to be near me but far enough to remain aloof.  I have in my room a geranium offering me a pink bloom in February while outside the world is cold and white. These things I can think of as precious.
I think of those people who are precious to me: my sons, husband, sister, brothers, my Mom.  I like that Mom is precious to me as this makes me glad to think that I am precious to my sons.
I am realizing from this thought exercise that I am looking at how I am precious to others but what I must do is to go inside to find how I am precious to me!
But who am I?
I see myself as so many parts now so which part is precious?
I have a body and I have learned to take much better care of it in recent years.  It is ironic that now that I know that I am not my body that I do treat it more preciously.  It is a wonderful gift that I have been given that allows me to Love and learn while here on earth.
It is easy to see that the child-like part of my soul, my Pollyanna, is precious to me.  My optimistic, idealist girl is precious and I am so happy that I recognize her and embrace her each day.  She allows me to see the beauty of this life and look for the good in others.
There is that part of my soul that wants to be the wise woman.  She wants to help others through gifts of Love and empathy.  She is precious to me in her ability to understand the suffering of others from the lessons life has brought to her.  She brings to others a loving balm, the gift of compassion.
There is the student and seeker part of me that is precious it its devotion to learning.  It is such a good student ready to be quiet, ready to listen to guidance, and quick to ask for help.  It so much wants to understand all the lessons that my guides send me so that it can one day teach and serve.
And there is my spirit, my connection to Love that wants so much to just be the conduit to bring Love to earth.
Am I precious?
Yes I am precious!
 
Happy Sunday!
 
“Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” ~ Dalai Lama XIV