Awareness of resentment
an excerpt from Live Beautifully: A Book to Sit With, by Doris Wedige
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Reflections on my inner conflicts...
I have been angry with so many people for their lack of respect for women. I’ve fought for equality and find myself having little solace. Fortunately, I have turned a new corner. Now instead of desiring to receive respect for being a woman, I have found my own respect for the feminine. I have found a deep and spiritual reverence for femininity. The problem hadn’t been with the rest of the world, but was a struggle within myself. It was a problem on the inside that needed addressing, not on the outside. I found that other people’s thoughts of me were a reflection of my own thoughts. The more I thought about them not respecting me, the more they did. I was focusing my attention on what others thought instead of focusing on the only thing I really have any ability to change, my own thought. I intend to accept that some prejudicial behaviors are just a result of our beliefs in long-held lies that have been passed down from one generation to the next. With Acceptance and Compassion there will be a transformation. I will choose to focus on the Light instead of the darkness and in doing so will strengthen Truth. My being angry with the situation was only adding darkness. I made the mistake of choosing to fight instead of choosing Awareness and Acceptance. The same conflict that I see expressed on a vast scale between nations at war. I embrace my femininity. I cradle it within myself that it might nourish and grow. I honor it in me and in all of mankind that shares it. The masculine and feminine are so beautifully complimentary. It is only in our acknowledging and embracing the complexity of ourselves that we find the true strength in our Unity and Wholeness. May we cease our fight to gain respect from others and instead nourish it within ourselves. |
I intend to honor both the feminine and masculine.