E-Paper
Art of being loved
When we do not allow ourselves to receive what others are willing to do for us, in loving exchange for our services, we block and dam up the flow.
I know of any number of women, especially those in India, who have always given love unreservedly and unconditionally to their families, and all who have come into contact with them. Yet ask them what they have got in return, and a lot of them are bitter and cynical, for they have been taken for granted by those very same people, to whom they gave their love and lives. To them I have only one thing to say, did you also learn to accept love, whenever it was offered?
Most women will always tell their loved ones that they have no need of their services, for they feel that it is the women's duty to serve, and for the whole world to receive! I have personally seen wives who will refuse to let their husbands take them to a doctor, when ill, or stay home for a day to look after them. They will suffer alone, allowing themselves to wallow in self-pity, and bitterness, but will refuse to hold the hand of the helping family.
There is a story of such a woman, who, after sixty-four years of a serving and giving life, had a paralytic attack. Not being able to come to terms with having the family lovingly serve her, which they were quite willing to do, she suffered and resisted the idea of being helpless, dying after four years of this tormented state! While she could have received all this love with appreciation and happiness, she chose to treat it with disdain, making the others feel that she disliked them in some way or the other, and was a burden on them.
Energy has one basic principle, which is that it must flow in both directions. When we do not allow ourselves to receive what others are willing to do for us, in loving exchange for our services, we block and dam up the flow. This causes a certain restriction in our own energy fields, and a resistance is set up, which tears apart our alignment of the mental and emotional bodies.
At some level, this causes a resentment to build up, bit by bit, shattering the free flow of chakra energy. This is easily reversible, when we come to the point of awareness of its existence. But to reach that point, this understanding has to be clear, that we are also receptacles of love, and we should allow ourselves to be filled up as a natural outcome of all the love energies that we have directed to the whole world. Once we realize the importance of receiving love whole-heartedly, and without any feelings of guilt, we become whole and complete within ourselves!
So the next time we have someone do something for us, let us not reply by saying that we do not need it, or that it should not be done for us. Let us show our gratitude and deep appreciation for those who respond to our love, and re-energize the whole process of giving and receiving, into a wholesome, well-balanced energy, at both ends!
