L.O.V.E. – Lifting Oneself and Others Towards Victory and Excellence.

In my previous blog, I stated that the most simple, and yet most difficult, decision one has to arrive at in Loving is to make a conscious choice to lift ourselves and others as often as possible. However, the most formidable thing that prevents us from loving ourselves is fear. Marianne Williamson states in her book,  A Return to Love: ” Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” The glory of God is in all of us and just to demonstrate to you how special you are, please sink your mind and awareness into this statistic: You are One of over 7 Billion people in the world and there is no one else in the entire world that is exactly like You. You are truly special!!! No one can take that away from you, but you. The only thing that is preventing you from attaining Victory and Excellence is your lack of awareness of how great you are. To attain the success(Victory and Excellence) that you desire you have to begin to Lift yourself. I know this, without a doubt, that this concept works as it worked with Evan Michael, our son. He was taught at an early age that he was loved and that he was special. As a result, he loved himself and became a loving, confident, caring, compassionate individual who was able to give his LOVE away. His greatest gift that he gave to everyone he met and interacted with was the Gift of LOVE.

Another major reason why we do not Love and Lift ourselves is the Fear of Rejection. Denis Waitley in his book, Seed of Greatness, beautifully illustrates this perceived fear and our reaction to it by describing this letter written by an unknown author… ” Don’t be fooled by me. Don’t be fooled by the face I wear. I wear a mask,  I wear a thousand masks – masks that I am afraid to take off; and none of them are me. Pretending is an art that is second nature to me, but don’t be fooled. I give the impression that I am secure, that all is sunny and unruffled within me as well as without; that confidence is my name and coolness my game, that the water is calm and I am in command; and that I need no one. But don’t believe me, please. My surface may seem smooth, but my surface is my mask, my ever-varying, and concealing mask. Beneath lies no smugness, no complacence. Beneath dwells the real me in confusion, in fear, in aloneness. But I hide that. I don’t want anybody to know it. I panic at the thought of my weakness and fear being exposed. That’s why I frantically create a mask to hide behind – a nonchalant, sophisticated, facade – to help me pretend, to shield me. Who am I, you may wonder? I am someone you know very well. I am every man you meet. I am every woman you meet. I am every child you meet. I am right in front of you. Please … LOVE me! Did this strike a chord within you? It sure did to me. Our goal together will be to discard our many masks so that we can live our true authentic life filled with Love for ourselves and for others.

Everyone, including myself, deep inside is craving LOVE. Everyone in the world also wants to be happy, but Happiness is the result of LOVE coming out of you. But before you can gift LOVE, you have to LOVE yourself first. You cannot give anything away that you do not already have. Therefore, in order to LOVE Others, you have to LOVE yourself first and before you can Love yourself you have to know who you are.

In this blog, I presented the two major fears that prevent us from knowing and loving our true selves. In future blogs, I will present some ways that we can use to Lift and Love ourselves. One of the best ways is to incorporate the admonition of Romans 12: 2 into your awareness: ” Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

Call To Action: Each day this week, find and say out loud one thing that you appreciate about yourself.

L.O.V.E. and LIFT yourself, L.O.V.E. the journey!