Dear Subscriber First Name,
I imagine you might have stumbled across this beautiful book, “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Makesy…
The page above really struck a chord with me.
I spent much of my early adulthood believing that success was those moments when I achieved external praise or approval from the outside world.
Years on, I have to say, I agree with Mole.
‘To love’, yes.
But what does it look like to love, and allow ourselves to be loved?
For me, loving can sometimes feel beautifully easeful and flowing.
But often, to love, feels like hard work!
In a moment when I’m struggling, slowing down and turning towards myself with care and kindness can be difficult!
To step off the battlefield with life and open to the life surging within takes immense courage and trust.
But the beautiful thing is, that as we begin to slow down and offer our care to the life within, we can begin to let ourselves be touched by the love that is always loving us.
And by learning to meet our own pain (and joy!) with love and care, we build more capacity to be there for others.
Love is there for us in the good times…and it’s there for us in the really tough times.
However, this way of relating to ourselves (and others) with love and care can take some rekindling and developing. It takes some work!
These days for me, success is gently picking myself back up after I fail, pausing before I blurt out something harshly to my kids or partner, respecting and listening to my needs, speaking from my heart, resting, welcoming parts of myself that I don’t like, pausing to stop and listen (really listen) to my children when I’m busy, wild swimming, savouring the goodness of life in all it’s many colours…
How about you? What would ‘success’ look like to you in your life right now?