Awakening Heart

“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.”  Buddha

She sat down in the silence to meditate, floating out of her body to scrutinize the 41 year old woman sitting cross-legged and fidgety.  She dove in- past the freckled skin, through strong muscles and dense bones -straight to her heart. 

There she asked for compassion. 

Compassion for the little girl whose mother left when she was 7.

Compassion for the 3^rd grader who made her first B.
Compassion for the teenager held prisoner in her own house. 
Compassion for the college student who learned she wasn’t good at everything. 
Compassion for the young teacher who prayed she would get in a car accident on the way to work, and compassion for the woman who lost her first baby girl when she was 16 weeks pregnant.

She admired the mother that sometimes loses her patience, the woman who works too much, and the athlete that often is unappreciative of her body’s constant sacrifice.

She admitted anger towards her sidekick who died and left her way too soon. 

She honored the marriage that ended in divorce, acquitted the friend that often doesn’t call back, and forgave her heart for doubting its capacity to give and receive love. 

 And when she did, her soul covered her in a protective blanket of grace, and she finally believed that she was deserving of an unconditional love.  And she was no longer afraid.