Click here to listen to today’s Daily Power Prayer for Self-Respect:
Life is soooooooooo interesting and there’s always something to learn in every moment. Life is truly an adventure in learning and so much of it is familiar, but other bits are a total surprise. I’ve come to realize that it’s not possible to move along the path of true spiritual expansion and growth without being willing to love yourself. In fact, you cannot have true spiritual awakening without self-love – and yet so many spiritual seekers resist that very same self-love.
Miraculously, that’s where I started my spiritual journey. I became suddenly and painfully aware that I actually hated myself. I despised how I acted and the mean, angry, jealous, competitive, judgmental person I had allowed myself to become. It was a rude awakening. I thought I was so confident and assured, but really, it was all ego and bravado – nothing of substance.
I set out to love myself truly, fully and completely, exactly as I am in every moment, unconditionally and thoroughly and I was amazed at how much more quickly I could get there than I thought. I was just beginning to learn that Love is the great healer.
It took about a year. I still had a long way to go to be the loving and compassionate person I intended to be, but I released the self-hatred and the intensity of that shift was life-changing.
I am so grateful I took that first step and energized that self-love intention every day. Now, I know absolutely that without self-love all that spiritual study people do is just rattling around with no place to land because the heart is not receptive when it’s filled with self-loathing. I’ve also discovered that self-respect can open the door to self-love. Alongside the self-love comes true humility. Without true humility there is no real self-love.
Sometimes the path to true humility and self-love is humiliation. You know that you’re not there yet if you can still be humiliated, but keep going – that humiliation is divine fertilizer to help you grow into seeing yourself as a gorgeous flower in a garden of goodness!
Remember that wonderful song “Respect Yourself” by the Staple Singers – A favorite of mine!
Sunday, at Project: Service L.A. we’re watering the seeds of our greatness with inspiring music and fellowship, plus I’ll bring a message of inspiration and so will Jesse Brune. We’re celebrating today and we’re choosing Love together! Learn more about Project: Service L.A. here: Project: Service L.A. website – be sure to watch our video!