We Have to Thaw from Inside-Out to Experience Blessings


Too often I have missed out on the many blessings of life because my heart has been frozen to receiving those blessings— the greatest of which is love.

I’ve spent most of my life living like an ice sculpture: too afraid to let me out and too afraid to let life in. Being frozen provided a protective layer from being hurt, but it also kept me from living life by truly experiencing the beauty that many relationships provide. I missed out on the beauty of sharing a smile with persons I passed by on countless sidewalks. I missed out on talking with the person next to me on a plane. I missed out on having deeper relationships with family and friends. And I missed out on having a life-giving relationship with God.

In my frozen world, my only true relationships were with things: the TV, the Stereo, clothes, doughnuts, and the latest whim that caught my attention and was purchaseable. None of these things brought me satisfying happiness, and none of them filled me with gratitude.

Today, through Recovery, I am learning to thaw my frozen self. I am providing the opening I’ve always denied myself. I’m being vulnerable enough to let God, family, friends and complete strangers in and by doing so, I am experiencing the blessings that have always been present for me. And I’m experiencing faith, trust and gratitude.

If you are frozen behind a wall of fear, learn to face that fear and break out of your frozen mold. It may be protecting you, but it’s also keeping you from experiencing the fullness of life’s blessings. If you don’t know where to start, try offering up a cry for help to God, or a Higher Power. Read through a book, like “Heartwork: The Path to Self-Compassion” by Radhule Weininger. And find a Recovery group that can help you find your true self under the old ice-sculpture.

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