“Live by the 3 R’s
R espect for self
R espect for others
R esponsibility for all your actions
When you lose, don’t lose the lesson
Remember that not getting what you want in life can be a wonderful stroke of luck
Judge your success by what you had to give in order to get it
Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon .” ~Dalai Lama
How many times have you heard that the secret ingredient you must add to whatever you are cooking is Love? And the reason why mom’s cooking or homemade food tastes yummier than food in any restaurant is because of this secret ingredient that goes into it?
Cook with love … is my husband’s motto and he follows it religiously whenever he cooks. Whether it’s washing or chopping or stirring … he’s totally into it! He talks to the food, he blesses the food and he treats the ingredients with utmost love, respect and reverence. Divine inspiration is what he calls it and he enjoys every moment of it!
Well, not just food, how about you cooked your life with love? Add this secret ingredient to whoever you are and to whatever you do and notice how it transforms your life.
Now, you may ask, “how do I begin to cook my life with love”? Very simple. Love yourself:)
Love yourself. Begin by loving yourself. Loving yourself is not “all about you”, it is not about blowing your own trumpet or bragging about yourself at the slightest opportunity. It’s not about being arrogant or conceited or being full of yourself or being a bully or exploiting others. Neither is it being a doormat or being a people pleaser or a victim. It is about loving yourself for who you are.
Accept yourself. To love yourself for who you are, you must accept yourself. It is recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, talents and gifts, successes and failures, likes and dislikes, quirks and idiosyncrasies – it is accepting who you are, embracing the whole package, and loving yourself for who you are.
Many of us go through life avoiding this. We don’t take time to understand and accept who we are. I would say we are downright scared and petrified of doing that, afraid of uncovering unpleasant stuff. As a result, we depend excessively on others around us. We are constantly looking for approval and appreciation, we go out of our way to please others, we follow what the world expects out of us instead of following our own heart, we blow our own trumpet lest somebody not notice us, we put on conceited airs and look down upon others to prove our worth. When we don’t get the love, respect, appreciation or recognition that we crave for we are frustrated, disappointed, disillusioned. We become needy and insecure and desperate. Our self-esteem suffers a huge blow.
Respect yourself. Once you accept yourself, you start respecting yourself. No masks, no airs, no pretence. When you accept yourself, you know exactly where you stand. You wont be needy of approval, you wont be starving for appreciation, you wont be doing things just to please others and the world. Self-respect inspires a healthy self-esteem and self-confidence. You know your boundaries – what you can, what you cannot. And you stop being afraid of failures – in fact, you start looking at ‘failure’ from a whole different angle!
Respect others. How you treat yourself is how you treat others. How you treat yourself determines your energetic makeup and subconsciously influences the expectations you have of/from others. If you beat yourself up constantly or hold yourself in low self-esteem, then you (subconsciously) expect to be treated in the same way by others. You end up attracting situations and people into your life that fulfill your expectations. Thus, the bullied attracts the bully, the victim attracts the victimizer.
When you accept yourself, and love yourself, you respect yourself for who you are. Your self-worth grows. When you are less frustrated and disappointed with yourself, you are less frustrated and disappointed with others. It encourages you to treat others in a similar way, respecting them for who they are and not for who you expect/want/wish them to be. You are empathetic, you are more giving and loving, you are kinder and forgiving and you are less fearful. This changes the entire relationship dynamics. Others will respect you more for your honesty and for being your authentic self. They will be more comfortable around you, feel less threatened around you, and be more open to lower their masks and pretences and be their true selves.
This works like a charm for any kind of relationship – be it personal or business, be it with a parent or a child, be it with a spouse or a friend, … just about any kind of human relationship …
Take responsibility for your actions. Respect for yourself and respect for others helps you take responsibility for your actions instead of blaming others (people, circumstances, fate) or indulging in guilt trips. You are no longer afraid of failures and you are no longer carried away by successes. You save a lot of time and energy! You take life in your stride, enjoying the experiences and treasuring the lessons, channeling your energy in the right direction. You look at life as a series of stepping stones, an opportunity to learn something bigger and greater each time … you keep unfolding like a beautiful flower ( a thousand petalled lotus?), your consciousness keeps expanding to the next level and next and the next, you start living in the moment. Life unfolds its magic around you!
This week,
1. “Love yourself” – what objections does your mind raise when you read this?
2. Observe people around you. How do they treat others? This’ll give you an insight into what they think of themselves and how they treat themselves.
3. Observe how you treat others – spouse, kids, friends, family, colleagues, strangers, etc. Anything that catches your interest? What does it tell you about you and how you treat yourself?
4. Is there something you would like to change? What is it? How would you like to go about it? What results are you looking for? And how committed are you to make this change?
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Success & Self-Mastery Coach Prasanna Gunturi publishes the ‘The Energy Perpective’ weekly ezine. If you’re ready to live and lead your life energetically and successfully always and in all ways, get your free tips now at http://www.energysoulutionsallways.com/.
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