“A blessing is an open invitation to understand more, a gentle loving essence to sustain and hold you when you are hurt, a magical awareness of some truth that you had forgotten or never known before. A blessing is a gift of profound impact to your heart, urging you to take a second look at life and honor the process of your living even if it is or has been painful and unpleasant. Because your spirit can only love, it accepts blessings as the natural kudos of life. Each blessing offers an awareness of grant insight and wisdom for you to use as the basis of your developing spiritual philosophy. imagine the joy in your life if you had heard and acknowledged every blessing that your spirit received over all the years you’ve been alive. What would today be like for you if you acknowledged the blessing or deeper loving intent offered you through every relationship and unfolding circumstance? You would quickly be a very joyful person.”
Meredith L Young-Sowers

This is a long quote but I wanted to include the whole thing because there is so much here to draw from. It got me thinking about how I accept blessings in my life. There are times that I have my eyes set on something so big that I forgot all the little things that help me get there. I overlook all the small details that are the building blocks to that outcome that I am looking for. Those details are what set me up to be able to receive that larger goal that I have in my head.

For example, I have been meditating on self-love and its importance. I can find ways to put a lot of pressure on myself to be more loving or kind to myself. I have been learning that it can give me more of a feeling that I am less than because I don’t love myself enough when I do this. Instead, I have committed to telling myself that I AM LOVE. This way, I don’t need to do anything but agree.
Which that new approach I have been slowing down a little more all the time because I’m not racing to meet an expectation that I have set for myself. I have started to look at the things that I appreciate about myself. In turn that has helped me appreciate what I see in others. As a nitpicky Virgo, people notice that I come off a bit judgmental at times. This can be accurate. But rest assured, the person that is getting judged the most is me.
This morning I went out and fed the bird. This is something new for me. I throw some seeds on the ground and check for tracks to see what has come around. This takes quite a bit of concentration as the bird tracks are small. I look at my suet feeder to see if they have tasted it yet. I inspect the ground to see if they cleaned up the seed from yesterday. All these little details that I never had the patience or time for. Does this come with age, the ability to slow down? I can hear the birds in the trees singing and its beautiful sound and I’m so grateful for it. Spring is almost here and it warms my heart to know those little creatures are joyful despite the cold and drought. I love those birds and I’m so grateful for them. With the thought that “I AM LOVE” I can move about my day just loving the things that I come in contact with. I can be grateful for them.

I discovered a new method a while back that really broke through a lot of my self-critical habits. I learned it from Mel Robbins. If you haven’t heard of her she is worth checking out. She calls it the “High Five Method”. Every morning first thing, you look in the mirror and give yourself a high five. I have found that this is most necessary to do in the morning for one major reason. You have praised yourself for nothing more than just showing up and being you. The blessing that God intended you to be. You just woke up, and there’s nothing that has been accomplished yet. Just tell yourself, “Hey, you’re amazing and you didn’t have to do a damn thing to earn that title”!

If I remember to do that, it does make a considerable difference in my day. She has a lot of research behind it. The biggest value to me is the reminder that I am a part of the everyday details of life and that doesn’t make me bigger or smaller, just important. Because as I look around I see that everything has its purpose. Sometimes it’s harder to find purpose in the difficult things but it is there, and when I do, I can open my heart a little more.
I have had some difficult clients over the years, and I tell the story about a mom of a high school senior who flat told me that she didn’t like my work, but her daughter was insistent on using me so here we are. I asked her what she didn’t like and she explained it to me. I gave it some thought and realized that I was now faced with a choice. To grow or remain stagnant. I decided to grow. I wanted to improve my craft and the things that she brought to my attention were things that also bugged me. I double down and learned what I needed to be a better photographer. When I delivered those images, there were some of the best I had taken. And to this day that mother sings my praises and I tell this story with utmost gratitude because she made me a better photographer. She was a blessing to me! A big one! And if I don’t tip my head up and say thank you, then I am missing out on the biggest lesson of all. Humility.

I go back to a part in the earlier quote, “What would today be like for you if you acknowledged the blessing or deeper loving intent offered you through every relationship and unfolding circumstance?”
What would happen if I allowed my heart to open and listen to the messages that are given to me in each moment? If I tasted my coffee and smiled a thank you for the roof over my head and the warmth of the woodstove. All the little things are there to build me up and restore me so that I can face the bigger challenges that are offered for my continual growth.

I’ll keep practicing finding those things every day and I’ll keep telling myself I AM LOVE without expecting myself to do anything to earn that.

Go in peace and love. Look around and find all the beautiful things that are here to support you and give them thanks. and then see yourself and allow you to be the biggest blessing of all.