If you watch a healthy young child, in a safe and secure environment, in a loving family, attuned to their needs, you may notice how open they are to both expressing love and being loved. But for a lot of us, our life is more complicated.

As we experience life, we experience trauma, and these experiences change us. Sometimes these traumas are big, and sometimes they’re small. Sometimes we can identify and talk about them. Sometimes we’re not there yet. Going into that darkness might be a little too scary, so we may deny, hide, or repress what’s there. Even so, these wounds can hinder us. They can have an enormous impact on our emotional, physical, and psychological health, on our relationships, and on our ability to love and be loved.

So part of our work, is to identify and process what’s there, so we are able to love and be loved — fully. Sometimes this means forgiving. Other times, we aren’t able to forgive, but we’re able to make a shift. Maybe we gain knew empathy, or perspective, or we adjust or reinterpret the narrative around an experience or a person. Maybe we speak up, set a boundary, walk away, or find our voice or a new type of strength or skill that changes us for the better. Maybe we gain new information, or learn a lesson, and that changes the way we feel about, think about, or use, our experience. Hopefully, on the other end of our journey, we’re more whole than we were before we started, and we are more free to love and be loved. 

There isn’t one way to get where we need to be. Often, it’s an accumulation of small changes that will lead to the breakthrough we seek.

One of the simplest approaches to making significant change in our life is to start asking questions. When those questions are around love, we call them love questions. 

Today’s love question is:

“What can you let go of, that will allow you to be more ready to love, or to be loved?”

Some people will read this and they’ll have an answer to this love question immediately. Others will know a piece of what they need to let go of, and that piece will later lead to the release of something else. For others, they won’t have an answer, but hopefully this question gets them thinking, and that leads to meaningful movement. For others reading this, they’ve already done this work, and this is a chance to reflect on the work they’ve done. 

Each person has a different journey, and each journey has a different timeline. Wherever you’re at is okay. Remember, this type of exploration can be hard, but it’s the necessary work that leads to the healing, and growth, that leads to love. 

#healing #lettinggo #releasing #love #selflove #lovewarrior #spiritualwarrior#beingloved #feelingloved #asklovequestions

If you feel comfortable, please share your answer, and then write something encouraging and thoughtful in response to someone else’s post. Also, please consider sharing, or asking the question to one of your fellow living creatures, so the conversations can continue.