I spend too much time
trying to love me.
What if I just stopped?
What if, instead,
I worked on loving God?
Or those around me,
like family and friends,
or the homeless guy on the corner,
or the neighbor girl
who spends half her time
screaming in her back yard?
Yes, I know loving myself is important,
but I don't think striving and straining
is the way to it.
It's not about trying,
it's about not trying.
It's like trying to remember
the name of a friend's dog
or of that flowering bush
in our back yard:
the harder I try,
the more stressed I feel,
and the more distant the answer.
And then,
when I forget that I'm forgetting--
there it is!
His name is Ace!
It's a hydrangea!
I love myself
when I quit trying
to love myself.
I love myself
when I love God.
I love myself
when I love others.
I love myself
when I love all of God's
big, beautiful creation.
Text and image © 2021 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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