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Today's
Meditation:
I
wanted to back away from this quotation, turn the page and
write about something else. Once I realized that I
felt so strongly about it, I knew that it was important
that I write about it, because I tend to shy away from
many things that make me uncomfortable, no matter how good
they are for me. And this quotation addresses one of
the things that intimidates me most: people who
challenge me to be more than I am.
Usually
these are people with whom I feel some sort of connection
or bond as soon as I meet them, and for some reason I find
that I avoid them after I meet them. I believe that
it's because I can see the possibility of getting too
close, and closeness isn't as safe as distance. If I
get too close to someone, the possibility of getting hurt
is far too great, especially if I feel that person may
challenge me to grow as a person. The possibility
there is that I'll disappoint this person, thus sabotaging
the relationship.
By
stepping back from these people, though, I do myself a
huge disservice, for I lose any opportunity that I might
have had to learn from them. My fear has stopped me
from growing many times in my life, and I often wonder
where I would be if my fear hadn't been so firmly in
control for so long. The people who "rekindle
the inner spirit" are the people we should embrace,
about whom we should rejoice; instead, how often do we
treat them in ways that are unhealthy to us and harmful
even to them?
There
are people who can rekindle that spirit, who can light the
fire inside. The question I have to ask myself,
though, is whether I'm open enough to allow them to ignite
that spark, or keeping them at arm's length to
"protect" myself, thus never allowing the flame
to be lit.
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