How often do we take the time to truly connect with people?
Do we allow ourselves to be present and open when with others?
Sometimes we can be in the same room with someone, yet not be present with them.
If we really want to have connection, we need to do more than just spend time with someone.
We need to be there, with them, and open to where they are in life.
Without judgment.
Without expectation.
Without our own preconceptions of who they are.
And it starts first with ourselves.
Before we learn to be present with others, it is necessary to be present to ourselves.
To our emotions.
To our feelings.
To our pain and our joy.
To our anxiety and our fear.
Why?
Because only when we are present to our own feelings can we feel what others are feeling.
Only then do we know how to relate to them on more than a superficial basis.
Because we know how we felt when we were in the midst of our own agony.
We know what we wanted in that moment.
So now we can give that to someone else.
We know what it is like to just want someone to be there to listen to us.
Without being coached or cajoled.
So now we can listen and be present to their pain.
We can hold them as they cry, and let the tears flow.
And they will feel our presence so much more because they can feel how we are with them.
And that shared presence make all the difference.
And all the work we have done on ourselves will speak for itself, as our hearts open and we share the moment with all of our being.
~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant