Self Love via Empowered Women
This month, I am challenging myself to write short blog posts (400 words or less) every day as a part of April’s A – Z Challenge.
Today is day one. Each day I will be writing about a word from the perspective of this blog. That is, I will be writing ’musings on grace, spirituality, life as art and life in general.’
Here we go.
April 1: Atonement
a·tone·ment
əˈtōnmənt/
noun
1. reparation for a wrong or injury.
It’s never easy to take responsibility for our mistakes, missteps, and less-than-stellar moments in life. It takes a certain amount of backbone to pony up the courage to admit it when we fall short. That said, my feeling is we cannot really consider ourselves full-fledged adults until we become willing to stand in the center of our own mess and own it. For one thing, we are powerless to change a thing until we do.
Stepping Up to the Big Table
So, although it may feel like we’re being boiled in oil or admitting that we have feet of clay (hint: we all do), stepping up and atoning for all the wreckage we are responsible for creating is the first step in repairing our relationships — with ourselves, others, and spirit.
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“Man cannot measure the bounds nor fathom the depths of divine forgiveness…” ~ James E. Talmage
So, what does that look like?
Perhaps it involves admitting that we are less than perfect. (OMG!)
Perhaps it means we need to gently apologize for really royally mucking things up.
Perhaps we need to forgive ourselves first, so we can admit where things went awry and tend to others with grace and kindness.
***
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the lessons that each one of us ‘signs up’ for when we take this tour as a human being. Sometimes, we are here to learn about loss or love or power or greed. We are here to learn about both the upside and downside of everything. Nothing that comes our way arrives without both lessons — and gifts. Admittedly, it is sometimes hard to find a pony in all that poo, but trust me, it’s there.
Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word
So, where is that we need to reach out to and offer reparation? To whom have we done harm? Where have we left behind injury? In what ways might we reach back and repair a wound, cleaning and binding it so it no longer aches?
Much of this work need not involve another person. You can send your sorrow and apologies via an energetic delivery system, rather than the US Postal Service, the telephone, or personal contact.
Oddly enough, you are letting yourself off the hook if you do this, as well as letting old wounds close and heal.
So, do something for yourself today. Atone. Forgive. Let go.
© 2014 Shavawn M. Berry All rights reserved
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