Even Though

While treasuring the phrase that all will be well, I also hold the emotional freedom "even though..." in my heart these days.  "Even though I make mistakes,  even though things do not always work out like I would hope, even though I  fail...  I still love, accept and forgive myself."  In the actual emotional freedom technique, tapping various parts of the head, face and body accompanies this mantra.  I do find tapping especially over my heart helpful, while often looking deep into my eyes in the mirror.

As a Christian, I often add that "Even though I am not the person I would like to be, God still loves, accepts and forgives me."  Certainly that is the deepest truth in all of life, but somehow it has always been easier for me to grasp the fact that God loves me than to love, accept and forgive myself.  For others it may be harder to accept God's unconditional love.  Both are important and central to our well-being.  Both are part of our reality.  Objectively, God does love and forgive us.  Subjectively, we also need to really believe that for ourselves.  We certainly cannot externally enforce that on our hearts, but I have found that as I call out to God and repeat that phrase in my heart it has helped me.  Similarly, as I jump out of bed in the morning, I greet both God and myself with love and care.  "From the bottom of my heart I love you God!  I love you Anne, just as you are!"

I know that some may argue that I am placing myself in the place of God.  Certainly not.  I just am deeply aware that true acceptance of our real selves created tenderly and specially by God is important.  So is knowing that God created and loves us just as we are.  From these deep places of love we can go forward to love and care for God and others.  Without that, our foundation is shaky and we get caught in creating false selves that deny the reality of our essential humanness.  We cannot fool God, but certainly we can live lives that are not true to our essential being created by Him.  We then become emotionally tangled up, exhausted, and in fact more self-centred than if we can look forward with pure and uncomplicated love and appreciation of our unique selves.

God does love us even though we fail.  He created us specially to be the unique people we are.  Cultivate love for God, ourselves, and those around us.  That three pronged stool of love will be strong and enduring and will reflect most deeply of  God in this world.  Surrounding it all, the miracle of God's Spirit will fill us, enabling us to grow on this journey of love.