Transmuting fear into love
Some people only want to see you suffering because they are suffering. Some people only hate you because they hate themselves. Some people only put you down, because they need to be lifted up.
They may resent you for possessing the qualities that they haven’t been capable of cultivating in their own lives. At some point in their lives, someone told them that they weren’t good enough and they believed them. Their attempt to ridicule and hurt you is only a misplaced attack against whoever abused them in the past.
If we wish to end this meaningless cycle of hatred, negativity, and abuse we must start caring enough to look past the offense and see through, to the pain and suffering inside the heart of the so-called offender.
When we stop pushing damaged people to the side and start embracing them with empathy and understanding; we can all work together to help diminish the darkness of hatred, heal the hearts of the hurt and unify in the light of love without fear.
Tempering Fear With Love
Looking back on my life I have come to the stark realization that every single anxiety, every pent up resentment, every lost opportunity, every drunken debacle and every heated conflict I have been a part of or witnessed has ultimately been linked to fear. Whether it be fear of death, rejection, loss, judgment, ridicule, failure or success; every moment of my life where I found myself seemingly imprisoned inside a chaotic whirlwind of emotions, fear was present.
As I look out into the world I see fear wreaking havoc on the masses. Every so-called deadly sin of the world has fear as its cornerstone. So if fear is the problem, what is the solution? Love. Simple and plain. Pure unconditional, unadulterated, untainted love. Where fear blames, love accepts. Where fear avoids, love embraces. Where fear accuses, love understands. Where fear resents, love forgives. Where fear divides, love unites. Where fear hates, love cherishes. Where fear destroys, love repairs and where fear hurts, love heals. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but it is really fear.”
The problem is resoundingly clear and so too, is the solution. Fear is the illness. Love is the cure.
Self-Love Is The Key To Loving Others Fully
Many people spend their entire lives looking for love outside of themselves. Sadly, many enter their graves never having found what they were looking for. One can only give and receive love from another fully when the thick veil of self-loathing and inner-deception has been completely ripped down and destroyed. Once we have wholeheartedly accepted ourselves for who and what we truly are; we realize that everything we have been seeking outside of us, lies within us. We see that we are composed of the very love that we have so desperately sought from external sources.
Self-acceptance is the doorway to self-love and self-love is the key to loving others fully. Through loving ourselves, we come to the clear understanding that we possess an endless reserve of love for others. Since we attract to us what reverberates from us, self-love creates the necessary space for others to love us. To love is to be loved. One cannot truly love another without first learning to love oneself. To love oneself is to both love and to be loved.
Featured image by Tertia Van Rensburg via Unsplash.com