This is the Work of Love

This is such a wise and important teaching, and one that can be truly challenging to consistently practice — and especially in traumatic and triggering and sad and scary times. This is certainly true for me. Again and again I need to remind myself to take a step back and do the sometimes very difficult work of trying to place myself in another’s heart and come to understand as best as possible their experience. Yet, this is what I believe is so needed in these polarizing and often cruel times. This is the work of love. The work of repeatedly returning to discover the obstacles I’ve built within myself — which have also often been related to very old ancestral and cultural trauma and pain — and come to understand my own pain and both soften and strengthen my own heart in order that I can then be present for the pain of others. And once the doorway of compassion is opened, healing is possible. And connection and compassion come to replace misunderstandings and judgments and blaming and shaming. This is the work of love. Not enabling that which harms ourselves and others, but responding to whatever arises with greater skills, awareness, tenderness, kindness. This is the work of our lifetimes. At least this has certainly been true for me. Bless us all. 🙏 Molly

The man doesn’t know that there is a snake underneath. The woman doesn’t know that there is a stone crushing the man. The woman thinks: “I am going to fall! And I can’t climb because the snake is going to bite me! Why can’t the man use a little more strength and pull me up!” The man thinks: “I am in so much pain! Yet I’m still pulling you as much as I can! Why don’t you try and climb a little harder!?”

The moral is— you can’t see the pressure the other person is under, and the other person can’t see the pain you’re in. This is life, whether it’s with work, family, feelings or friends, we should try to understand each other. Learn to think differently, perhaps more clearly and communicate better. A little thought and patience goes a long way.

~ Author Unknown