Worth It

Happy Leap Day and welcome to a whole extra 24 hours this year! Do you know why we have Leap Years with an "extra" day?  It takes 365.242190 days to orbit the sun. If you round up the .242190 to .25 or 1/4, it accounts for the need for an extra day every four years. As a Mother/Baby nurse, I'm curious to see how many babies will be born today. They'll share their birthday with rapper Ja Rule, actor Dennis Farina, and motivational speaker Tony Robbins, among others. And now, let's leap into The Bloom.

This week's Seed questioned ...

"Do you recognize your own worth?

Can you see it in others?

If so, see it in yourself, too!"

Even though this was a quote from me and it sounded good at the time, I realized, after it went out, that I got it a little bit wrong. I've gotten a LOT of things even more than a little bit wrong over the years and while I'd rather get it "right", there's always something to be learned from it. Let me clarify. 

It's a wonderful thing to take note of someone's else's value and give them credit for whomever they are or whatever they do. It therefore seems logical that if we can admire another person for their outstanding qualities, we should be able to flip that appreciation onto ourselves. However, as you know, it's not a good idea to should on yourself and here's why that premise is backwards.

We must do our own work on feeling worthy first. As long as we are self-critical, unaccepting of ourselves, maybe even self-loathing, we cannot truly see another's merit. We cannot give or share what we don't have. How do I know this for sure? Because I used to criticize nearly everyone. I could find fault with Mother Teresa, for gawdsake! Did it lift me up? No! Make me feel better? Definitely NOT! So, why did I do it?!? Because I couldn't accept myself and who I thought I was. I criticized and disapproved of ME. I hid behind blaming others for not meeting my standards and I was blind to all their amazing qualities because I was so busy berating myself while trying to pretend otherwise.  

I believe we are all on a journey and I'd like to think it means becoming more evolved. Maya Angelou said, "When we know better, we do better", and when that happens it's divine, but sometimes we can perversely hang onto old ways and not do better. That is one of the saddest things I can think of. Not only does that keep us from seeing the beauty, inside and out, in others, it also holds us back from our own greatness and stifles the awesome things we can do.

Always look for the good, first inside of yourself and then you'll easily recognize it in others. If someone needs help teasing it out from within, you'll be able to help them because you've already been down that path -- this is what I wish for you. 

Could you please help me? Think about what you'd like to receive from me. I've been writing to you for a really long time and I'd like to hear from you. Would you like some videos, classes, fewer essays ... ?? We're putting together a questionnaire and I would so appreciate you taking just a few moments when you receive it to let me know what you want! Or, if you don't want to wait for the survey, feel free to let me know outright by replying to this email or send me a separate one: barbaralcummings@gmail.com  Thank you!

Sparkles and Love,