We read an endless supply of books that teach us how to be the most authentic version of ourselves. We go deep within to understand our needs, desires and longings. We become open to exploring things like meditation and yoga, if we think there's the potential for finding peace.
But if you really want to grow and evolve in your journey, look no further than your closest personal relationships.
The people we are closest to (and specifically our relationships with those people) are the greatest teachers for our lives. Each one of our relationships powerfully reflects back to us all the parts of ourselves that are strong, happy, compassionate — and those parts that need more growth and evolution. It's as if each of our loved ones was deliberately placed in our lives to become close with us, to provide us the opportunities to become the people we need to become in life.
Within the context of relationships where I am neither inspired nor challenged, I tend to remain the lesser, smaller version of myself. So, in order to grow into the woman that I am today, I actually had to leave behind the safety and security of the familiar.
A man that broke my heart wide open taught me that when I really love someone, I don't hold back, even if it may hurt.
A friend has taught me a great deal about myself and connections at a soul level. She taught me that it is only when we can love, accept and forgive ourselves that we can then love, accept and forgive everyone else.
My love has taught me that it is only through great honesty and vulnerability that you can have great intimacy and love.
Everyone in our lives is a spiritual teacher. Their purpose is to expose our hidden parts. They're there to open us up to the deeper truths in our lives.
Our spiritual teachers are there to help us awaken, recognize and understand our own true nature; to bring about the core of who we are and to evolve further in our souls' journey. Who better to assist us in our journey than those to whom we're closest?
There's something divine about it all.
So, as you spend time with family over the holidays and feel yourself getting irritated pause and identify the source of your irritation and then look in the mirror about what you're unconsciously hiding.
As you reflect on the past year and realize you're still carrying a wound, see if you can identify what that person taught you. What do you know now that you didn't know previously about yourself?
As you're wishing to create more loving relationships in the coming year, go within and ask yourself, "Am I willing to think about this differently or see a deeper truth in order to have the love I want in my life?"
