You Can Only Accept As Much Love As You Think You Deserve
I’ve had the honor of hearing a lot of people’s stories over the years. Real blood and guts stuff. One takeaway I think about all the time is the incredible power of internal narratives. It’s incredible the hold it has on all of us, really. But the toughest is watching it distort how people experience others’ love, acceptance, belonging etc.
If the only “patience” you experience growing up is impatience, you’ll fear it. Or, you’ll be insulted by it. You might never allow yourself to be in a situation where someone needs to be patient with you. You may never be patient with yourself.
If the only “acceptance” you get comes with strings, you’ll never rest. You’ll always be waiting for the bill. You’ll never quite feel like you are worthy of acceptance without earning it. You may never be worthy of your own acceptance.
You know that thing where, when someone compliments you on something, you deflect instead of saying “thanks,” and when you just try to say “thanks,” you feel weird? That thing. Resistance to acceptance of others’ acceptance of you. That mechanism is in most of us.
But for some of us, it blocks out the sunlight.
Song: AS MUCH LOVE - Say ZuZu
