Needing everyone to love, accept and approve of you is incompatible with living your truth. Fully living your truth can only happen when you offer yourself the love, acceptance and approval you long for from others.
Still, it’s a challenge, especially for those of us prone to people-pleasing and giving more importance to other people’s needs than we do to our own.
Often we ingested a message during childhood that we could either be loved or we could be true to ourselves but we couldn’t be both. Faced with that choice, most children would choose love. And that’s how we begin to lose ourselves. That’s how we begin to turn away from our deepest joy. That’s how we end up in lives that feel like they don’t belong to us.
Learning to offer ourselves love, acceptance and approval is deep and ongoing work. No quick routes. Reminders from others that you’re allowed to live your truth help the message seep deeper into your heart, little by little. I love the reminders I’ve received over the years. And I love passing the reminders on.
Love and courage,
Leah
Sending love and thanks for your writing today, Leah. A touchstone each time your letters arrive. Much love xo
Always my pleasure, Christine. I’m sitting with Luna, so full of what you mentioned about one of the roles of domesticated animals being to show us the unconditional love we may never before have experienced. xx