Three Little Words

Every dandelion I see reminds me of love...how I want to love, and how I want to be loved. I chose "LOVE", as my word to focus on this year, because I want to understand it better. I want to be better at it. I just want to live it.

I read an article a while back, written by Martha Beck called, Are you addicted to praise? In it, she tells a story about a woman named Sarah, who was a praise junkie. I don't know if I'd call myself a junkie, but I couldn't help but notice, through her words, how much I've let others determine my own self worth.

The most important thing I took away from the article, and the thing that will stick with me forever, was the story about Sarah and her cat.

"When she returned home after a virtually praise-free week, her cat, Dandelion, greeted her at the door. Sarah crouched down, arms open, hoping for a hero's welcome. Dandelion simply sat and looked at her, like a cat. "But instead of trying to pull her in," Sarah told me later, "my heart sort of...went over to her. I felt something between us. She didn't need me at all, but she accepted me absolutely." This was Sarah's first conscious experience of actual love -- not the unctuous, machinating, toe-fondling liaisons of the ego but simple awareness of connection to another being. Sarah sat down on the floor beside Dandelion and wept with relief...Slowly, her praise-based relationships, including her marriage, fizzled and died. She learned to be with people as Dandelion was with her, accepting them without needing them. Her heart often "went over" to create something between people, without anyone saying a word."

Love like dandelion, has become my own personal motto.  It reminds me that to love, means that, first, I need to learn to love myself.