While tasting the sweet fruit of surrender
I notice the little voices
that want to berate and put down,
"You should have learned this by now!"
is how the refrain goes, only this time
my inner mama bear is affectionately defending her cute little baby cub.
That past is over - it was burned away in the embers on Easter Sunday night.
The shame, guilt and regret are noticeably absent, too.
What remains is simply a quiet stillness.
It is what it is.
And when it is all one has always dreamed,
what more is there?
(Icing and a cherry on top.)
On Monday night, you finally understood where I have been all these years.
"It's like I've been barely treading water," I said, "and my head keeps getting pushed
under the turbulence." You placed your hand on my knee and I watched as the compassion moved through you, releasing your expectations, melting your resentments.
Lately, I've been sharing how grateful I am for the friendships that have been supportive and nurturing as well as unconditionally loving over these last few years. "Not once have I been asked or told to change," I've said, and this has been one of the most powerful examples of LOVE in my life. I am also grateful for the relationships in which we've been moving through the hardship and the turmoil - sometimes together, other times apart. Soon enough, we will look back and chuckle, "Remember when..." we'll say to one another as we flourish in our lives of true power.
