Receiving is vulnerable.
Like...to ACTUALLY receive. To soften your heart, your mind, your shoulders, your grip and to actually allow whatever you've been given to land, to be absorbed.
It is so much easier to shrug it off.
Or make an excuse about why you aren't really so great or the thing isn't really what you wanted after all.
Or to return the gesture without a moment of hesitation - like hot potato.
Because to actually receive it;
To actually let it land;
To actually absorb it...
WITHOUT the expectation of needing to give ANYTHING in return...
Means...what?
That somehow, under all the stuff and muck, we are terrified that maybe the truth is that we aren't worthy of it.
We play silly games like hot potato with compliments, or tell people they shouldn't have been so kind to us, or we pay for someone's Boba right after they pay for your manicure. (hypothetically speaking)
As if giving and receiving needs to be transactional, to be safe.
Because then we don't have to rub up against the incredibly uncomfortable possibility that we aren't really worthy of the good someone is giving us...
As if we aren't really worthy of the good we so desire...and even our desiring more good is selfish and a 1st world problem and, well...BAD.
So receiving is vulnerable.
Because it invites us to soften our hearts and our minds, our shoulders and our grip and allow for the possibility that it is already ours to receive. That we are worthy of it.
The invitation is this: Notice (without making it right or wrong) what it feels like in your body to receive. Notice what your impulse is. And just begin by receiving yourself, right where you are. Because you are so worthy of that. Because the good of who you are is already yours.
With big love for you, Rachel
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Rachel Sartori is an Embodiment and Wholeness Coach. She is kick-ass and heart-centered whether she is showing up as a workshop/retreat facilitator, a private coach, a writer or a speaker. Rachel invites you to exercise your soul, and participate in the healing of your own heart and the world around you. With Rachel, all is welcome, all the time.
Read: Exercise Your Soul: Ignite Healing and Wholeness in your Life and Live from the Inside Out
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