I Love You. I Am Listening.

I love you. I am listening.

Those six words made all the difference to me this morning.

They didn’t come from someone else. They came from a little voice inside. The voice came so gently and quietly that it would have been easy for me to keep on the mind loop I was on and not really hear it.

There was something about the simple, gentle message, though, that went straight to my heart. It completely bypassed the normal roadblocks of my mind and landed right where I needed it.

After hearing that this morning and giving myself permission to just be with what I was feeling, not trying to make those feelings smaller or silly or less than, I really did just listen to my own self, and acknowledged and gave space for all that was coming up. I really did say I love you to my own self, but also to each and every emotion and feeling that needed to be acknowledged.

Before this morning, I don’t believe I’ve ever said I love you to a feeling I’ve had. Sure, I’ve acknowledged my feelings. I’ve definitely made light of them before. I’ve tried to just be with them. I’ve been caught up in them. I’ve even thanked them for showing me something I needed to see. But, never have I said I love you and I am listening.

I was not prepared for how powerful and healing it felt to allow each and every feeling to surface and not just acknowledge them, but actually honor them. This is a new awareness now and I am hopeful that it will become a practice.

I love you. I am listening.

I cannot begin to imagine the number of times in my life where hearing that simple, sweet message would have been just what I needed. I started to think about so many times where hearing that message from a loved one would have felt so good to me.

What’s beautiful is that while I want to learn to use this with my loved ones, this is absolutely a gift that showed up for me this morning to give to my own self. I was given the opportunity to learn a new way to love myself and listen to what is inside — and that is something I always need more of in my life.

I want to offer this to you today should it help in some way, whether for your own self or in your interactions with those you love. Those six simple words are imbued with care and presence and tenderness, which is what we all need.

Might you or someone you love need to hear those six words?

I love you. I am listening.