I grew up hearing the term “unconditional love” on many occasions; preached from behind the pulpit, discussed during “table time” every morning, or championed in stories, movies, or books. It wasn’t until I got older that I began to understand what it truly meant to have unconditional love.
It has to start with you.
As strange as it sounds, I’m learning that I have to be capable of loving myself, unconditionally, before being able to appreciate this quality in other areas of my life.
“We think too much and feel too little” Charlie Chaplain pronounced in his first ever speaking movie, The Great Dictator.
For the past three years, I have been in relationships where I’ve given and displayed love. The relationships, now over and in the past, were fairly positive, but didn’t turn out to be the right fit for either person. In spite of the hurt, I’m glad to have figured this out and have moved on. It did a terrific job of highlighting the fact that I have neglected myself and not taken the time to truly appreciate and love myself for who I am as an individual.
Sometimes we get so caught up being busy that we forget the bigger picture behind life and why it is that we are here.
Taking the past two weekends at the Barnabas Journey has helped me to take a look inward and realize the depth of my spirit and what it means to feel whole, complete, and loved.
Inside every one of us is a little boy/girl that longs to be a king/queen. Sometimes we need to go back and rescue our younger selves from the years of memories we’ve experienced that trap them and prevent us from being free. This weekend, I went back and set loose a younger version of myself…reminding him it’s okay to dream big, be himself, and to never give up on the inner desires of his heart.
Home. I’m home.
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