Allowing Ourselves to Be Nurtured

Let yourself be nurtured and loved. Let people be there for you. Allow yourself to be held when it would feel good. Let someone listen to you, support and encourage you when you need that. Receive comfort from someone’s physical presence when you need that. Allow yourself to be supported emotionally and cared about.

For too long, we’ve stood in the background, attending to the needs of others and claiming we have no needs of our own. We’ve shut off, for too long, the part of us that longs to be nurtured.

It is time, now, to claim those needs, to identify them, and to understand that we deserve to have them met.

What are our needs? What would feel good? What kinds of ways would we like others to nurture and support us? The more clear we can be about our needs, the greater the possibility they will be met.

Hugs. A listening ear. Support. Encouragement. The physical and emotional presence of people who care about us. Doesn’t that sound good? Tempting?

Someone once said to me, “The eighties have been a ‘me’ decade. Now, maybe the nineties can be a ‘you’ decade.”

My reply was immediate. “Let’s make the nineties a ‘me’ and ‘you’ decade.”

No matter how long we’ve been recovering, we never outgrow our need for nurturing and love.

Today, I will be open to recognizing my needs for nurturing. I will be open to the needs of those around me too. I can begin taking a nurturing, loving attitude toward myself and by taking responsibility for my needs in relationships.

From the book: The Language of Letting Go: Hazelden Meditation Series

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