Wishing, Hoping and Longing for Love
As the winter season comes to a close, the anticipation of spring is in the air. Sunny days and an abundance of flowers and trees bursting with new blossoms often awaken more tender longings for deeper connections to ourselves, our loves and our lives.
Your drive to belong must be satisfied before you can genuinely give and receive love. Longing for love is a secret pastime for many.
Longing by itself suffers from inertia. It is too weak to produce any lasting outcomes by itself. It is only slightly more powerful than its sisters, wishing and hoping.
Belonging is also related to longing. If we hyphenate belonging, it becomes be-longing.
Be your longing. If you are willing to acknowledge that you have unfulfilled desires to love and be loved, you can activate a self-healing process. The first step is to accept that your heart has been on a starvation diet. You have a hungry heart.
Feel into those empty spaces in your heart that you have closed and locked in an attempt to protect yourself from being hurt.
Look for those places where past heart hurts got trapped; sequestered off into secret pockets of heavy-heartedness. Notice how much energy these old memories take from your present ability to give and receive love.
Why would I ask you to focus on past painful experiences? Strange as it may seem, stopping, reflecting, and surrendering to a deeper acceptance of the fact that you have been hurt gives you access to the wisdom that love requires vulnerability. Therefore, it isn’t for the weak-hearted.
Be your longing. Belonging to yourself activates your ability to soothe and smooth the rough edges around your heart.
Imagine that you have the power to unlock and open the doors to your heart. This authority to re-energize your heart’s strength rests solely with you. Focusing your attention on your heart can also activate lightheartedness.
Take a few easy and gentle breaths as your heart begins to respond. Next, take a few deeper breaths. Imagine that your heart is awakening from a deep sleep. It expands, stretches and breathes a sigh of relief. Now that it finally has your attention, it will soon be ready and willing to participate with you as you ignite your desire to live fully and love well.
Susan has been writing and producing personal development seminars for over 30 years and has lived in Laguna since 1986. susanvelasquez.com.
