A Love Story for 2021

If there is a love story to be told before Valentine’s Day 2021, it must be about yourself first and about unity. The story I’m writing today may not sound like a love story at first, but this is a Valentine’s Day like no other, and so this love story is like no other.

 Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been on a quest to clear my chronic digestive stagnation and issues. This means my diet is ever-growing cleaner as I figure out what is and is not working for me. I see that I’m not even halfway there. I’ve had a lot of detox symptoms that have manifested in anger, frustration and agitation. It hasn’t been pretty. But this seemed like the perfect time to finally address some of my bad habits and make a permanent change. Am I feeling unified in this decision? No, but I am recognizing the benefits so I keep mentally starting over. I continually reaffirm my discipline and acceptance. This brings me back to a unified front and then it’s easier. I don’t want to fight within myself or with anyone else.

 When we talk about about unity, we usually think about people being unified with one another. For example we want our family, friends, community, even country to work together to live, love, solve problems and be at peace. But, as I am learning in regards to my digestive healing, I think unity truly starts within oneself. If you are self destructive, ignoring things you know are problems, feeling insecure, anxious, traumatized and/or in fear, you are not likely to feel at one with yourself. This will translate to everything in your life and therefore into the community. 

 When you are unified within yourself, you love all the parts of yourself. Then you can look to the others around you. This a perfect time to ask yourself what love means and how it looks. What does it feel like to NOT sit in judgement, but to be accepting of yourself and others. You have probably heard that what aggravates us in others is what we are aggravated about in ourselves.  If you have not thought about this, do so and be honest with yourself. I do this all the time, and I’m still irritated a lot! So obviously I have endless work to do. Believe it or not, I do work on this and live by this premise. Am I conscious all of this all of the time? No, but it is a driving force in my life to be conscious and act accordingly. I do feel unified within myself once I recognize why I am frustrated or angry. It takes me being honest with myself and accepting my faults. Only then is it easier to accept the things I see outside myself that I find maddening. 

 It seems to me that most of us just want to be happy, have our needs met and if we are lucky, have the time and energy to be creative. If you are happy with yourself, all of this comes a lot easier. So the big question revolves around happiness with yourself. Answering these questions takes time and patience but is most rewarding. This way, you can fall in love with yourself, not only on Valentine’s Day, but every day.