To Receive

There is something that can be quite hard about receiving. This may sound surprising in some ways, because generally the idea of receiving is something everyone likes. Who doesn’t want to receive a gift, a paycheck, a compliment, a new friend, etc.? But sometimes I think it is hard to receive what we are offered, because we are fixated on what is not there. Or, we have a “better” idea of what we really want, and this better idea blinds us to seeing what we are being given. We fall prey to dictating our desires and then become victims to the unintended consequence of finding it hard to receive.

I find I can experience more joy in receiving good things in my life when I have surrendered my own desires. Now, surrender can be a dirty word for some, so to clarify, I’m not talking about giving up desires, becoming desire-less, or any distorted thinking like that. I’m talking about a surrender of desires that leads to freedom. Not a burying of them in the sand, but a holding of them loosely so that they don’t control so easily. (Because is it not true that anything we desire strongly has the propensity to control us?) So, we don’t become free from desire, we become free from its control.

Once this has happened (an often circuitous and arduous process for sure), I find I can more happily receive the gifts that come into my life. I am less likely to overlook them or take them for granted when they appear. I walk more easily into gratitude.