Learning to Receive

At a time of year where we are all thinking so much of giving – presents, cheer, laughter – may of us forget that part of what makes the holiday so wonderful is that everyone is reminded of the gift of receiving.

We live in a culture of mixed messages and if we aren’t conscious we can get caught up:  forgetting that being human isn’t about doing constantly in order to be valuable and worthy of a great life.  Yes, I believe that part of what makes our lives amazing is finding our gifts and sharing them with the world but if that is our only focus, we live in the yang energy of push, push, push and we will lose ourselves in a life of achievement. 

While seemingly valued by society, the truth is, on a core level, living a life focused on only achievement is a lonely life.  We need the balance of people, of relationships, and part of what relationships teach us is that being human means knowing how to receive love as well as offer it.  This is also a core aspect of loving oneself.

Think about this for a moment – especially if you are the achiever type.  Imagine you buy the PERFECT gift for your loved one.  You have spend months thinking about it and felt so happy when you purchased it out of excitement to offer it to them.  Then the day comes, it’s gift opening day and you watch them as they unwrap your gift, holding your breath knowing the joy that you are about to witness that you had a hand in creating!  Then they open it and smile politely and say thank you.  Nothing more as they move on to the next item of business – refilling coffee mugs.  You sit there and think ‘did I do something wrong’?

Now lets try that again, they are opening your gift and suddenly their eyes sparkle, you see them grow with joy and your heart fills knowing that you were able to offer them something that truly brought them happiness.  Now this isn’t about the gift, it could be handmade gift, a car, a book or a card that says ‘one free hug’.  It is about the fact that knowing how to receive something from another being isn’t about being selfish as many of us think it is, it’s about being in the joy of the moment and ACCEPTING that another person really thought about us enough to want to give us something.  It's honoring the ability to be loved and loving the lover at the same time.

Now lets take this a step further.  Think about the last time someone smiled at you and said 'hello'.  How did you respond?  Did you accept their love or were you so caught up in the day to day that it aggravated you that someone else seemed that happy?  Along with receiving the big gifts, we also could often use some reminders in receiving those that go unnoticed at times - the smiles, the thank you's, the opening of doors, the refilling of a coffee cup before you ask, etc. 

We are all worthy of receiving – it’s a big part of why we are here, to receive the gift of living.  This holiday season is a great time to practice receiving as well as giving and to honor the oneness that we all experience in the energy of connection.

May that you receive with a whole heart and remember that you are loved.

Many blessings!

Jenifer