Letter to my Teenage Self

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My Dear Younger Self,

Stop trying to be so tough, stop trying to fit in and know that you will one day find your place in the world.

Don’t fear rejection in all your relationships, because those that truly love and value you will never leave you. The rejection you feel now is false, he did not leave you, he was a young man himself, he was walking his own path, your paths will cross further down the line. As adults you will gain an understanding and in some way support one another. He is one of your teachers, he is one of your great lessons in life.   Don’t fear rejection in everything you do because of this, believe in yourself as when you believe, others will too.

Don’t doubt your own ability and don’t compare yourself to others because you are one of a kind, you are original as each of us are, find your authentic self and let it shine.  Just be yourself as that is who you are meant to be, do not imitate others as by doing so you will not find yourself.  If you pretend to be something you are not you will only be deceiving yourself and you will gain nothing from deception.

Each experience will help you, because that is what truly gives us an understanding of who we are, how we respond to life and what we learn from its lessons.  Later in life you will work with children damaged by their experiences, your own experiences in life and understanding will help you in this role.  Through your study in this area and helping  young people recover from trauma, you will also be helping yourself.

Some of your challenges will be difficult, you will question your ability to get through them.  Sometimes you will want to give up, throw in the towel, but there’s a fight inside of you that will not let you.  When you see the light of day after the storm, you will realise, it was meant to be.  Sometimes it will feel like the rug has been pulled from underneath you, it will be the breaking down of all you know and you will feel fear.  But that will just be the end of one cycle as each ending will herald a new beginning.  Life is full of transitions, ups and downs, highs and lows.  It is only through these that we recognise happiness and joy.

You have no one to let down but yourself, in truth others want you to succeed, because when you do it gives them hope. Send out love to those that might be envious of your success, as love is the strongest energy and will always overcome spite and envy.  When you set out to accomplish something, do so for yourself, not for what others may or may not think but because it is right for you.  Don’t doubt yourself, that is the only thing in your way.

Choose your companions wisely, do not be fooled by false friends or promises, find the true nature of those who cross your path, trust your intuition. You will make mistakes but I’m not going to wish them away, because through those mistakes you will grow stronger and move forward.  You have a strength that runs through you that needs to be brought to the surface, adversity and difficulties will pull this strength up to the surface where it belongs.

Watch and love your mother, after all is said and done she will be your greatest teacher in life. Your mother is love, she will show you how to love unconditionally.  She will teach you to look out for those weaker than yourself, watch her kindness and emulate it for she will lead you to find your natural caring nature.  Through the parenting you receive from your mother you will understand how to become a parent yourself, take the very best of your experiences and nurture and love your own child in the same way.

Make the most of your mother while you can, because one day she will leave you and that will be truly painful for you.  Make sure you hold nothing back, let her know how you feel and what she means to you, make her proud and give her permission to go when the time is right, because afterwards you will feel better that you did.  Tell people how you feel, don’t ever be afraid to show love.  Be open in friendship and love, in this way you will draw the best of people to you.

Watch out for your ego, don’t let it mask who you really are. The ego grows through doubt and fear, the ego is a tough cookie to crumble.  You will find your ego will follow you throughout your life.  On occasion it may help you in a way, like when you have to walk into a room full of people to argue a point, sometimes you will put on your high heals and lipstick to do this, that is when you are close to your ego.  There will come a time when you grow wiser and you can speak up for yourself and others without having to create a different persona.  You won’t worry about qualifications or academia because you will intuitively know you are right, you will have found the confidence you so lack now.  You will have a practical approach, say it how it is not dress it up behind long words or theoretical ideas.  People will believe you because of your honesty, you will be known for your transparency and sometimes vulnerability.

That voice you hear inside, that’s your intuition, it won’t let you down. If it feels right, it is right even if it does not feel so at the time.  Take note of your intuition, you have an ability to read situations, you know what people are thinking before a word is uttered, you can spot a lie a mile off.  Your natural intuition will draw good people to you because you recognise them, whatever hat they are wearing at the time.  You will find the good in people others cannot see, but also to only look for the good in people, will let you down on occasion, not all come from a good place.  Do not trust everyone you meet, not all souls are walking the same path.

Find time to understand yourself through self enquiry, connect on a deeper level, find the observer inside, the one that watches, for the observer will always be with you.  The observer does not judge, but watches and only in finding this connection can you begin to understand yourself.  Sit in silence and experience the stillness inside of you, meditate on the bigger questions in life. Find the answers you are looking for inside, for you have all the answers as you are connected to all things, you are at one with the universe.

Live in the moment, enjoy each moment without worrying about tomorrow.  Worry or not, what will happen, will happen and you will waste today worrying about tomorrow or longing for yesterday.  Appreciate the small things in life, because life is made up of small things.  But do not put your head in the sand, some things need to be dealt with and will not just disappear into thin air through will alone, some things need working on.

It is like you are asleep now, the world passes you by in your hurry to get somewhere, but you do not see it, you have no time for the wonders of the world around you. You will find that time, one day you will wake up and the world will come alive for you, you will cherish that day and from then everyday will be a new day.

Finally you will find love is the answer, not false love, not love dependant on another but love in its natural state. Love is a prayer, it’s the care you have for others, it’s the way you show this to the world and how you care for yourself. Love does not die and when death comes to pass, know that love crosses all boundaries.

Take care and do your best

Your loving, older and wiser self.

The Truth


There is something present inside me,

that cannot be falsified.

I do admit as my younger self ,

I pushed it right down inside.

What was inside kept hidden away,

I would never let come out.

Eventually giving  into it,

on realising what life was about.

I’m open now,

I can’t help myself, I wear my heart on my sleeve.

Those who know say I always was,

the toughness make-believe.

I can’t keep it in if I’m feeling it,

to do so would just be to deny.

Before I know it’s out of my mouth,

I sometimes ask myself why.

In writing I’m told I’m vulnerable,

in showing myself to you.

But what the point of writing,

if your saying what’s not true.

I talk of love, the purpose of life,

of what it means to me.

In my writing I show honesty,

it’s what I want you to see.

Hopelessness

The full moon always affects me, I often don’t know it’s coming but I know when it’s arrived. I’m not sure why, I’ve heard we are ruled by the tides, the moon controls the tides, so it’s that simple I suppose. I also live by the sea, I’m sure you’ve heard of those that ‘live on the edge’.

I’m not usually given to moods, but this week I have a feeling of hopelessness descending that I can’t seem to kick. This really isn’t like me, I’m upbeat, don’t worry about things and know that everything comes to pass.

It makes sense when I think about it, the anniversary of my mothers death is next week. It’s been two years now and I miss her terribly. It is a wound I carry, I loved her and miss her but I am not always sad, because I remember her beauty and laughter. We used to talk everyday, I’m still talking but she’s not answering, well least not that I can hear any way. I’m missing the opportunities of being with her, those that I took for granted.

It will pass and life will go on, I will laugh and have fun. I will continue to see the beauty in the world and in others and I will love with all my heart. But and here’s the big but, it’s okay to have a bad day once in a while. It is okay to give into feelings because they are there it is okay sometimes to give into feelings of helplessness.

Not to acknowledge sadness is to repress it, and when we do that we are just freezing it out until it returns to get us as true feelings cannot be repressed forever. I used to bury a lot, anger, fear, sadness but I found it’s not helpful to me and on top of that I have to spend a fortune getting it cleared!

If I’m sad now, I acknowledge it and let it in to sit with me a while. I think about it, communicate with it and make sense of it, only then can I let it go. I believe we have to do this, it’s being present, being in the moment and working on ourselves. We can’t hide the truth, it’s better to face it, accept it and move on.

I’m in a good place in that I am able to understand what is going on, I understand how emotions can take control of us, I understand the impact of trauma and stress. I give myself therapy, lots of healing and loving care, I make sure my environment is therapeutic and put good food into my body.  I visit others for healing and energy work, supervision for my emotions I call it. I practice yoga and meditation, okay I’m a little lapse on the yoga but the intention is there. I wouldn’t be able to work helping others think through their own muddles and trauma if I couldn’t do that same work on myself.

We have to acknowledge that not everything is rosy all the time, we experience joy because we understand the opposite.  Summers are so much better after a harsh winter and the birth of a child reminds us of those we have lost.  We have to accept death, because to accept death confirms the experience of having had love in our lives.

To live in a world were everything is great all the time is just not honest. Our moods do change and life has a way of knocking us off our feet sometimes. If we keep pretending there is no problem, we will never face it, we are not living our true reality.

So my melancholy mood is okay, I’m thoughtful for the moment and want to be on my own for a while, but it will pass as everything does. Even writing this has cheered me up, writing for me is therapeutic. I hope this might help others in recognising that all things pass but if not it has helped me.

I’ll be back out there laughing and having fun in no time and I will enjoy it all the more.

True Love

 

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Loves a river that flows to the sea,

loves not tied up between you and me.

Loves embrace does not end with the bends,

love continues and love cannot end.

Loves not ownership or managed by one, 

love is all brightness under the sun.

Loves the answer to all questions out there,

loves the natural capacity to care.

Loves not a book with beginning and end,

Love has no finale on which to depend.

Loves the freedom to have your own say,

Love that is true cannot be swayed. 

Loves the poetry of the oldest of sages,

loves the ink staining the page.

Loves an old mirror as two become one,

Love understands and is never done.

Loves the mystery that has no door,

Love after here continues for sure.

Loves not urgent, there’s plenty of time,

Love has eternity, love is divine.

Urgent – DP

It’s not urgent that I get there, 

just that I’m on my way.

The destinations not in sight,  

it’s for another day. 

But right that I have set out, 

I’m purposely on my path.

I can break along the way, 

it’s fine to have a laugh.

The finish lines is not the goal,

it’s not even a race.

I’m just taking my own time, 

just keeping up the pace.

And if I finally reach the end, 

will I have passed the test.

I suppose that’s not as important 

as if I done my best.

Nature Lessons 53

A flower opens up and becomes itself, it does not imitate or follow others.  Each petal as it unfolds creates and shapes the flower. Of the same species but individual in their beauty and flaws. The flower tells us we need to be true to ourselves if we wish to shine and bloom into the amazing individuals we have the potential to be.

~ Liza

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Enquiry

Don’t trust

just because your told it is so,

continue to doubt,  

until all your doubts go.

A belief is not true,

because others believe,

continue to ask,

until the answers achieved.

Trust only conclusions

you come to yourself,

those that feel right,

ones you have delved.

Enquiry will help you

come to the truth,

explore as a child,

go back to your youth.

Doubt

until you can’t doubt anymore,

uncover the truth,

a truth that is yours.