Thank you Tara, I still have a knot in my throat, fear of expressing my fear to anyone but my therapist. But I can sit with it, breathe with it until I next see her, thank you❤
My fear is resilient. How do get presence, kindness, clarity, or space so that I might be able to match its intensity. I have tried many different approaches over the last 3 years but meditation has done nothing to help me in this life & death struggle with fear.
I love Tara and I have both of her books. But I didn't know if I have a lot of fear (which I do) that I couldn't do Rain on my own. I have a therapist but I don't see her that often . And I have other things to talk to her about. And I have some good friends but I can't ask them to do this all the time. Any thoughts and advice on understanding this would be greatly appreciated
Yes, Tara really is Wonderful and down to earth. I have known Tara for 20+ years now, and been on retreat with her several times. She very wise and caring. ~ Respectfully, Ross
I feel the bad things we do, or have done, or the bad decisions we have taken, could not have been done differently by the person we were. Nobody takes a bad decision knowing the consequences will be very hard to live with. We do what we do mostly in self-defense and based on our own self-image. A thief is really saying to himself 'I steal because I am a thief'. An abuser is saying to himself 'I abuse because I am an abuser'. People with self-respect and self-love could not imagine stealing or abusing. It would be unimaginable to them. When we don't love ourselves, if we think of ourselves as a thief or an abuser, that is exactly how we will behave. Sadly, that cycle always starts when people are treated badly, or are shown a bad example, when they are very young. Through guilt we force ourselves to live and relive our past. Our past remains our present, and becomes our future. Self forgiveness is the only way of renewing our hearts and minds, giving us the self-respect that makes the idea of behaving badly unimaginable to us. And self- forgiveness is something that only we can give to ourselves. But once we have, we can respect and love the people around us, because our self-image of who we are, is changed. Once we respect ourselves, we are naturally respectful to the people around us. So the more we forgive ourselves, the better we become as people. How simple is that :-) So do something wonderful today and every day. Forgive yourself and become the wonderful person you are, that is, when you and only you realise it.
Remarkable, really. You know, I have heard this many times but how you said it, and after listening to Tara and probably where I am today, caused it to sink in. Thank you, 8 years ago ;)
