I feel like this question is everywhere right now. Why is hate our default? And is it really?
I’m once again reminded that our ability to love ourselves is directly reflected in how we view and treat others.
Pause and sit quietly for a moment then answer this question with complete honesty and vulnerability - When you think about yourself are you overcome with a feeling of love or is your default going immediately to things you don’t like about yourself, or what is wrong in your day, with your body, etc?
I know without a doubt that my default is to go negative. It is something I work on on a daily basis, but I’m undoing 45 years of conditioning and practice.
So, when I read books like Freedom From the Known by Krishnamurti that states without a doubt all of the anger and war in the world starts from within us. I first want to hide the book under the couch and pretend it isn’t true, and I then sit with it and realize with certainty that it is indeed true.
How can I possibly have compassion for, or love someone else when I don’t love myself? How can any of us?
If it is easier to hate, it is only because we have been doing this to ourselves for too long. Moving through the world accepting lies about ourselves that then evolve into lies about others. These lies manifest into sickness, disease, war, and so on.
It is critical that we commit today, in this moment to learn how to love ourselves. We have to feel it and believe it at every level of our being.
Take a moment and think about the love you have for a child, or even a pet. Now imagine someone looking at one of them and making this statement - They are okay, but they would be so much better if their…stomach was flat, if they lost 10 pounds, if they contributed more to the family, etc. I don’t know about you, but the person that made that statement would no longer be in my life. So, why do we allow ourselves to be treated this way? What are the stories that keep playing in your head? And how are they keeping you from stepping into complete freedom and self-love?
I believe this is one of the greatest questions of our time. How do we pull out of ourselves to see the impact of our own thoughts on ourselves and those around us?
This is my daily commitment for myself, for my family, and for the incredible clients that I have the privilege to work with. Whether I’m alone in the room, or sitting across from someone - I commit to seeing that person as whole and complete - having everything they need in that moment to walk through the world from a place of freedom and love. This is how we changes the stories surrounding us today. This is our greatest contribution to the world.