Dedicated to Inspired Expressions of Life's Energy
Intimate Relationships The most unique and romantic gift By Bob Reber 02/10 - Nature's Pathways
Lori & Carl
Well, it’s February and we are once again bombarded with advertisements enticing us as to how we should show our love to our significant other in a unique and romantic display. Diamonds are forever and a rose by any other name, can become intoxicating to some, while forcing others to examine their relationships in life; or lack there of. Looking at and evaluating our relationships is not necessarily a bad thing. It does give us the opportunity to examine the intimacy we have with others and those things in our lives that are distracting us from what is truly of value. After all, it’s our relationships that extend beyond our living, not our stuff. Our children ask us about our parents and grandparents, not the things they owned or left behind. Yet, the one relationship most of us tend to avoid is the relationship we have with our own soul. We would rather focus on our jobs, health, wealth, status and the things in our lives; and today we have even more things to use as ‘weapons of mass distraction’ than ever before. All of this in an attempt to evade the most important relationship we have; our relationship with our self. The ancient Essenes, a group of Jews that lived at the time of Jesus have left us some very interesting perspectives on viewing our relationships. Their writings speak of the world outside ourselves as being a reflection of the world within us; as within, so without; as above, so below. Their understanding of the world is similar to the world many speak of today. That is the world of manifestation; that we each create our own world through our thoughts, words and emotions. In fact, centuries ago, they understood that we each draw to ourselves our own unique experience of reality. It is this reality that you are experiencing that is the external mirror into the world of our self. This would then imply that the relationships we have with another, is a direct reflection of the relationship we have with our own soul being. The degree of intimacy, or ‘in-to-me-see’, you have with another is a reflection of the intimacy you have with yourself. For some of us, this is a frightening idea; after all, it’s not fun looking into the mirror and seeing our defects and flaws staring back at us. Many of us would rather avoid, deny or just plain ignore these qualities of ourselves. All of us crave acceptance. Yet, if we cannot accept ourselves with all of our faults, failings and idiosyncrasies, how can we expect another too. Thus we deny ourselves the opportunity to experience acceptance, for we cannot give it to ourselves. All of us hope we can be forgiven when we do harm to another. Yet, if we cannot forgive ourselves for our own inadequacies, defects and flaws, how can we experience the forgiveness of another? And, by not forgiving ourselves, we cannot even hope to forgive another their perceived offenses against us. We all want to be loved, unconditionally and without restraint. Yet, this is the one thing we deny ourselves. To look into the eyes in the mirror that look back at us; to move deeply within and to love, unconditionally what we see, this is a great gift. It is this gift that becomes reflected in the relationships in our lives. This February, give yourself the most unique and romantic gift you can; examine your relationships as the mirror they are. Reach deep into yourself and extend loving forgiveness. Create an intimacy with yourself and your own soul being, which will then be reflected back to you in your relationships with others. When our souls reflect each other is when life is most significant.
