'Tis the Season to....Receive??

Without a doubt, this time of year is about giving. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa - each of these holidays hold gift-giving as a part of their ritual celebrations. We spend weeks, even months, seeking out the perfect gifts for our loved ones; we host parties; we attend parties - there's a seemingly unstoppable outflow of energy during the holidays. And many of us experience an imbalance in ourselves with this constant outflow. If we're not careful, our "well" can run dry.

We're well-schooled in this society on how and what to give. But what about receiving? Those we love are seeking out the perfect gift for us, hosting parties for us, coming to the parties we host...are you in touch with consciously receiving these expressions of love? Or are you in the habit of saying a quick thank-you as you move on to your next act of giving?

Graciously receiving from someone allows them to express their feelings for you. It opens the way for the giver to experience the pleasure of giving freely, from the heart. Have you ever had that experience? Of giving something to someone - maybe as simple as a compliment, or slipping a few bills into the bell-ringer's pot at the mall, or maybe a gift that you spent a great deal of time and energy selecting - and having that gift received openly and fully? It feels pretty incredible, doesn't it. Like it opens the floodgates in the heart, allowing your gift to flow with love, because it is being received.

And, graciously receiving from someone allows us to really take it in - not only the gift, but the love, the intention behind the giving. It can go a long way toward filling our "well," toward keeping us in balance. And when our well is full, we have so much more to give others. This quote from Brene Brown sums it up beautifully: "Until we can receive with an open heart, we are never really giving with an open heart." 

Sound advice for this holiday season, right? But let's dig a little deeper here. Because the art of receiving is about so much more than just consciously saying thank you for a gift.

Let's slow down for a minute...really sink into what it means to hold a balance between the energy you're sending out into the world and the energy you are receiving. Take a breath in...and slowly breathe out.

Now again....breathe in. And slowly breathe out.

Just that simple act is an act of receiving.

I've been thinking a lot about receiving these past weeks. What I've realized is that receiving is about being open. Being still. Accepting what is present. Listening.

I've realized that when I'm reaching for something, striving for a goal, my energy is moving out and away from me. Hmm. I thought that's how you achieved your dreams, right? You strive for them.

Image from MandM's 3/4 Marvellous Minis

How about this for a different experience: stop reaching. Be still. Breathe. Open your heart. And listen. Feel the energy all around you. Allow it to fill you - which is different than pulling it in! Allow it to fill you. Receive the unlimited love and grace that is available to you at all times.

What? Unlimited love and grace is available to us at all times. Really??

Indeed, this is so. From the book The Field, by Lynne McTaggart:

"In the quantum world, quantum fields are not mediated by forces but by exchange of energy, which is constantly redistributed in a dynamic pattern...Fluctuations in the atomic world amount to a ceaseless passing back and forth of energy like a ball in a game of pingpong. This energy exchange is analagous to loaning someone a penny: you are a penny poorer, he is a penny richer, until he returns the penny and the roles reverse...Every exchange of every virtual particle radiates energy...when you add up all the particles of all varieties in the universe constantly popping in and out of being, you come up with a vast, inexhaustible energy source..."

There it is, at the micro-level, in the very stuff  we are made of: the balance between giving and receiving. Energy, on a universal level, is always seeking balance. And so, when we find balance within ourselves, we come into a sort of resonance with this unlimited source of energy that is available to us.

To find that resonance, we simply must stop the constant out-flow in our lives and allow some in-flow. Otherwise it's like trying to pour ketchup into a running garden hose - you're not going to get too far with receiving that ketchup, are you. And when you get right down to it, what's life without ketchup?

So open your heart. Receive fully and completely this season, and always. Make it a practice to stop for a moment, take a breath in, and receive the love and grace that surrounds you in every moment. Maybe people giving us gifts serves only as a reminder of the fact that LIFE is a gift. Each and every moment. Let it in.

Sending you all much love - be sure to receive it fully!

Zardoya