this week, brené over at ordinary courage is hosting a week of worthiness to celebrate the release of her new DVD. she really got me thinking about the idea of worth, and how it impacts our lives. and while there is much to be said about self-worth in terms of self-care [am i worth spending the money on? am i worth the time?], there is also an aspect of worth that ties into our daily internal dialogue.
in buddhism and yoga, non-violence is referred to as ahimsa. ahimsa refers not only to physical violence, but mental and emotional violence as well. when we doubt ourselves, when our internal tapes repeat messages about our unworthiness, this is a form of violence towards the self. when we say to ourselves "i will be worth it when..." , this is in fact an act against the self as we are right now. it is great to have goals and visions of who we want to be and become, but we don't need to pay the price now by beating ourselves up. because, as we all know, when we do get to the "destination", often that is never enough either, and we are left striving for a state a being that is beyond reach. we deserve to find happiness now, right in this moment. we don't need to achieve anything to get there.
part of our practice, as humans and creatives, is to shut this cycle down. when you come up against internal resistance and messaging about self-worth, ask yourself, "am i practicing ahimsa?" am i practicing loving-kindness (metta) towards myself? a peaceful life and world starts with our internal world. if we are not at peace, our world cannot be at peace. if we cannot be kind to ourselves, and love ourselves fully as we are in this moment, then how can we practice authentic kindness and love with another?
so as you can see, for me, this idea of worth comes back to a sense of loving-kindness (or metta) and non-violence towards the self. how are you going to celebrate this week of worthiness?
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