I sat down recently to meditate on this concept. It is interesting that as driven type A individuals we tend to be a great deal better at doing and giving than we are at being and receiving.
I think there is a misconception about the concept of allowing oneself to receive. I believe our culture has misconstrued this to be selfish. We admire those who give selflessly and we don’t want to be perceived as “takers”. But the truth is that to allow yourself to receive is a form of giving.
When you don’t take a compliment you rob the person paying you that compliment of the opportunity to feel good.
When you don’t graciously accept a gift, you rob the giver of the positive feeling of giving.
When you don’t say yes to someone lending you a hand, you prevent them from being generous.
You essentially take that away from them.
The other part of this has to do with our ability to embrace our worthiness. If somewhere in our programming we truly don’t believe that we deserve to be happy, to be loved, to be nurtured, or to experience pleasure then we won’t allow for any of those things to come into our lives. No matter how much we say we want those things, our programming simply won’t allow it.
It is not an easy shift to make to change the frame for oneself about receiving, but it is a crucial part of having a resilient and truly wholehearted existence.
Life is meant to be a harmony. Given that everything exists in dichotomies, we must allow for both sides of any coin to exist. Which means to give fully we must also receive openly.
For a long time, I didn’t create the space to receive. I didn’t know how to accept a compliment graciously. I didn’t know how to allow people to help me when I needed it. I didn’t know how to be nurtured and cared for because I was convinced I had to do all of that for myself.
I am a big believer in being self-reliant, self-sufficient, and independent, and I am learning that to receive is not mutually exclusive to any of those attributes.
So, dear one, I ask you this. How will you receive this week? What are you willing to allow into your experience? Leave your comment below and let’s fill our wells together.
From my loving heart to yours…
With Aloha,
PK
