GIVE UP BEING PERFECT - GIVE UP BEING SURE

I was reading a blog called Insiration House Inspiration House.org and found this AMAZING TED TALK by Brene Brown, PHd:This explains everything about why we are suffering so much here in America. 

This explains why healthy, whole people are the most loving and GENEROUS. They have the most courage. They do not live in fear. They are open and vulnerable.

This is exactly what I"ve been feeling and saying for years. We need to be more vulnerable, less certain that we are right, more open, less ashamed of not being perfect. Be free to fail, stop measuring ourselves, stop blaming others, just say YOU'RE SORRY and love yourself.


The more you GIVE, the more you RECEIVE. But you can't give what you haven't got. 
When you love yourself, you are able to love others.


I love the 12 steps of AA. We look at our own moral inventory in Step Four (4) and see our side of the street. Where were we to blame? How did our actions hurt others? Even if the other party was wrong, we still had a part in the conflict. 


Nowdays everyone is blaming everyone else instead of looking at their own side of the street and taking some responsbility. If politicians like Santorum and Romney were really Christian in any way, they would be humble. They would be fearless because Christ states: LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR. 


Lately these political leaders who are against helping those less fortuneate (whether it be with food stamps or Medicare or public assistance) are in fear of losing their money. But they are doing the EXACT OPPOSITE OF CHRIST'S LAW and TEACHINGS. 


They are scared to pay more taxes for the common good we all share: public schools, free medical care, clean water, safe highways, clean air, Social Security. They are afraid to help their fellow man becaue they see everything in terms of "If there's more for you, there's less for me."  


They believe in guns, war and attacking before understanding. They seem to lack compassion. Until it happens to them. Until a disaster like a tornado strikes and they scream: "Where is the Federal Disaster Relief - FEMA? Where is the National Guard? Where are the Police? Where is the National Food Bank? Who will help us? 


If these modern-day conservative "Christians" truly followed and believed in God, and loved themselves, they would love their fellow man. They would have FAITH. They would trust and be more generous. They would never be hateful or stingy. 


Love and accept yourself. You become WHOLE and then you are not competing, and fear-based If you don't have self-worth (which comes from a deep belief in your worthiness) then you will always be jealous and envious and miserly.


The most generous people are LIBERAL with their love and money.


The more you give, the more you receive.


From Inspiration House: "For me, the “secret sauce” I’ve been discovering about life has everything to do with the art of letting go.  Letting go of assumptions, letting go of the need to control, letting go of worry/doubt/fear.  And, instead, replacing all my energy spent on planning, controlling, doubting etc with a spirit of openness and compassion.

I love that Breen picks up on this theme of letting go!  In fact she even uses the phrase “letting go” in each of the ten chapter titles she calls “guideposts” in her book:

1. Cultivating authenticity: Letting go of what people think
2. Cultivating self-compassion: Letting go of perfectionism
3. Cultivating a resilient spirit: Letting go of a numbing and powerlessness
4. Cultivating gratitude and joy: Letting go of scarcity and fear of the dark
5. Cultivating intuition and trusting faith: Letting go of the need for certainty
6. Cultivating creativity: Letting go of comparison
7. Cultivating play and rest: Letting go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self-worth
8. Cultivating calm and stillness: Letting go of anxiety as a lifestyle
9. Cultivating meaning work: Letting go of self-doubt and “supposed to”
10. Cultivating laughter, song, and dance: Letting go of being cool and ‘always in control’

Letting go without a safety net, or foundation that you trust, probably isn’t a wise idea.  And neither Breen nor I advocate a laissez fare attitude about letting go.  Instead we’re advocating a ‘letting go’ practice that nurtures qualities of authenticity, self-compassion and resilience.

Breen’s book, The Gifts of Imperfection, is a quick, worthwhile read.  And, if you don’t have the inclination to read the whole book then I definitely recommend this 20-min video – you’ll find all the major themes of her book embraced in this message.

Try the spiritual practice of “letting go.”  I think you’ll find it joy inducing!