The Art of Receiving

Generosity is one of my strong points.

Others have told me this over the years – friends, family, work mates.  Only recently though have I stopped to listen and truly appreciate this gift of mine.

The gift of giving.

Just a few short weeks ago though, I turned this generosity back on myself.  I’m not referring to self-love, me-time, massages, meditation etc.  I set my self an intention – I was going to allow myself to receive.

Receive what others were offering me.

As a mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend this did not (and still does not) come easily or naturally to me.

I did not seek out this gift, it landed in my lap.  A weekend away planned with soul sisters and I jumped right into action mode – preparing meals for my hubby and boys so they could enjoy themselves while I was away, making personalised gifts for all the gals on the retreat, putting my hand up to drive a bunch of us there, and just generally hitting generosity mode.

And then the first gift – an offer for someone else to drive.  As the relief washed over me I thought – “there’s some power in allowing other’s to do something for me”. I relished in physically and metaphorically taking a back seat.  And as the weekend progressed, I kept bringing myself out of doing mode into being mode and just allowing.  Allowing others to cook meals instead of me needing to be in the kitchen all the time,  allowing others to clear away the table and allowing me to continue my conversations, relinquishing control of what was going to happen and when.

Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t easy – there were times where I had to fight the habit, the urge to get things happening – to be busy, to prove my worth.  Even a moment where I felt completely lost because I had time to myself to just be and I felt a little shaky on this new ground and was overwhelmed with emotion.

But each time I came up against this resistance, I would stop take a deep breath and think about my resistance – not in terms of blocking this flow of generosity to me – but in terms of blocking this flow of generosity out of someone else.

The Art of Receiving is

to support another in their ability to Shine

while reaffirming that you are Worthy of their gifts.

It all comes down to flow – the energy of generosity needs to flow both ways – otherwise those around you receiving your generosity can’t shine to their fullest.

A simple reframe and life becomes enriched with everyone’s gifts.  Without practising the art of receiving, we don’t create the space for everyone’s light to be seen.