Learning To Be Loved

It dawned on me recently that many people, though not all, know how to love. They may not always practice it, or might not 'want' to love, but we all do.  We all have the ability.

Strangely, as I watched people around me, and also myself, I realized that though many know how to love, very few know how to receive it. I'm not speaking of personal 'I'm in love' types, but the unconditional love of everyone and our willingness to help and be helped. For instance...

I get so used to being cut off in traffic, or having someone cut in line at the store, or push their way by me in an isle without an 'excuse me', that I tend to get all discombobulated when someone actually lets me go first, or lets me out in traffic, or is kind in general. 

In a recent incident, a woman saw that i was trying to get my kids in the van and offered to take the cart back for me. Normally, if someone tried to be polite and help, I would say, 'Oh thank you, but I can get it...'. This time however, I let her do it. I have been working on allowing others to help me. For some reason, I have no problems helping others, I just have a hard time receiving it.

As I began to watch neighbors, family, and friends, I began to see a lot of that behavior in them too. Like one would have no problem loaning me some butter, but in the reverse, wouldn't want to take something from me. I thought maybe it was just people not wanting to impose on others, but I think there is more to it than that.

For some reason, whether we are taught through our doctrines, society, or just feel unloved in general, too many of us believe that we somehow do not deserve to be loved. It seems so simple, life is not just about learning to love, but learning to be loved in return. I think once we as a whole, learn to allow love in, humanity is going to take a huge leap into a higher state of being.

We all deserve to be loved. :-)