By Susan Dykes — Written on Aug 24, 2017
Many strive to be a better person each day; if not each day, then maybe each week or year. We long for love, and we long for acceptance and approval, yet many times we find it difficult to show others the unconditional love and perfection we believe we need in order to succeed.
Listen to these words: not everyone can love unconditionally, and that’s OK. YOU are OK.
If we automatically loved unconditionally, the benefit of our own humanity would be docile, unassuming, and compliant. We couldn’t appreciate the rewards of our own personal growth.
Don’t get me wrong. Our world could benefit from a little more unconditional love, but love takes many forms. One of these forms is perfection.
We believe we have to be perfect, in almost every way, in order to give and receive love. We believe we have to love unconditionally and flawlessly in order to feel whole. Perfection is overrated.
I grew up believing that everything and everyone had to be perfect in order to gain love, to gain respect, and to gain advancement in a world filled with hurriedness and expectations. Trying to be perfect, or attempting to love everyone unconditionally, left no room for my curiosity.
It left no room for mistakes, self-awareness, or healthy boundaries. And it certainly left little to no room for my own, personal journey. Perfection takes a lot of energy.
Judgment arises when we attempt perfection in everything we do, and it’s seldom kind. It transports our critical voice and greets us with sabotage, competition, and frustration. With judgment we address each other with a perceived notion of right versus wrong and our best intentions may result in confusion and disrespect.
Judgment surrounds the heart with illogical ideas, filling our heads with false hope and pretense. Coupled with our need for perfection, judgment surpasses our voice of reason, hindering life’s lessons and events. It is difficult to feel compassion, much less unconditional love when judgment arises.
In a world filled with violence and chaos, our beliefs are challenged, our thoughts are ramped and our hearts are blocked. Life is meant to be a series of lessons, not perfections.
Life’s events shape our very soul and point us towards a direction of sweetness, self-awareness, as well as acceptance of others.
In her seminar, Clearing The Seven Windows To The Soul, Miss Anodea Judith awakens us to the idea that perfection leads us away from unconditional love. In her series, Miss Judith asks us to take a moment to think of someone we love. With them in mind, think about a few simple questions: Do you love them because they are perfect? Or because they are powerful, strong, and accomplished? Do you love them because you know them? Because you know their vulnerabilities, their pain, sorrow, and fears? Because you know their strengths and gifts?
As you search for answers to these questions, understand that unconditional love and perfection don’t go hand in hand.
Miss Judith goes on to say, “If everyone were perfect, there would be no need for love. Perfection is what we do in order to earn love, but in fact, perfection keeps love away.”
Appreciating imperfections opens our eyes to areas that require improvement. With self-improvement, you draw closer to the idea that you can love yourself unconditionally.
With unconditional love and acceptance of yourself, you align your being with the idea that each of us is human and each of us has a story. Here, your life’s events can be perceived in a more loving and positive direction.
Love begins within yourself. As you learn to value yourself for who you are in this moment, without a need for perfection, life begins to change. Your dreams change and your thoughts mold, allowing love to become something more than a word or false feeling.
When defined as respect, acceptance, forgiveness, and appreciation, love softens our hearts for deeper meaning. From within, life resumes in a new fashion. Only do we realize that, while it is OK that not everyone can love unconditionally, we find that unconditional love is ultimately our deepest dream.
Will we ever reach the throne of unconditional love in the world we see today? I am not sure. What I can say is that it’s OK if unconditional love escapes you at this very moment.
There will always be things we dislike. There will always be room for improvement. And there will always be people whom we find do not fit into our lives. But you can still learn to appreciate these things for what they are.
Not everyone is capable of unconditional love, and that’s OK. But ask yourself what you might do today if you did not have to do it perfectly.
Still unsure of what unconditional love is? Watch the video below for how to recognize it in relationships and in life:
…….
Susan is an alternative and intuitive healer whose desire is to help you find the best person you can be. For more information on Susan, click here.
