Soulshine

“You think you’ve bought my love like a toy You better watch your stuff, my pride and joy You never know what you’ve got till it’s gone You better not play with love until you know what you’re doing You never know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” Bell & James, You Never Know What You’ve Got (1978) The older I get the more I realize that it’s really true: You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone. We rarely take time to appreciate the youthful glow our faces radiate or the youthful enthusiasm that spills forth from our souls when we are young adults. But as soon as we start losing these youthful treasures, reality hits and we find ourselves desperately trying to hold on to them or to reclaim them. The same is often true when we think about the people we love and the importance of our relationships. Addictive thinking stripped many of us of having good relationships with ourselves and thus with others. Self-rejection left us being really uncomfortable in...

“See your problems of self-esteem Could be self-fulfilling prophecies, So probably your best policy is to talk to me. Stop looking over your shoulder Cause if it was up to me I would make you feel right.” Chromeo, Over Your Shoulder People with addictive personalities suffer from many “problems of self-esteem,” which are rooted in problems of self-love. And, more often than not, it seems to me that problems of self-love are based in self-beliefs. Anyone who believes that he/she is unworthy, untouchable, unacceptable or unlovable is going to suffer from tremendously poor self-love. And, as a result, his/her self-esteem is going to be equally as poor. A person with poor self-love sees very little value or worth in him/herself. And self-esteem is based in feelings of healthy self-worth. Self-love requires that we believe we are created in the incredibly beautiful image and likeness of God. It also requires that we believe we are worthy, touchable, acceptable and lo...