Loving Patience

I just don’t feel like myself these days. I’m off. So many things have happened and are happening, my father’s death four months ago, returning to another school year, the launch and promotion of my book, and changes in my body that have triggered sleeping difficulties.  I am needing patience and endurance of biblical proportions!
 
I remember one of the vignettes in Comfort and Joy which inspires me right now. 
 Acceptance
I cannot think about life anymore. I just know that I am asking another person to love me, in all my fragility. I just know that another person is asking me to love him, during a time of struggle. Sometimes it’s the will that gets tired, not the body. Comfort comes from feeling accepted. Comfort comes from accepting others.
 
For this one day, I will say: This is enough, this is just right. I will offer you my hand and encourage you on your journey. You will offer me your hand, and gently help me over the stepping stones of my path.
 
Together we lift each other up with the comfort of deep and willing acceptance.
 
Cultivating Comfort:
Sometimes comfort isn’t an action, but an open heart that you bring to a situation. Acceptance for others is rooted in accepting yourself.  If you are tired today, emotionally vulnerable, or angry and frustrated, make room for it. Learn to gently say, ‘I accept all of myself. I hold my feelings with tenderness, love and comfort.’