Afraid to meet others

I was afraid to meet Others, afraid to meet You.
(I was afraid of what you might awaken within me that I would not like…)

But not only afraid to meet Others.
Also afraid to meet the others within me, not daring to actually do the Inner Work and truly get to know myself, all of me.

Before.
When I was harsh with myself, back in the days prior to learning how to do gentle with myself.

Today, when I meet something in you (or me) that awakens something within me that makes me cringe, want to run away, shut down, turn off… I do gentle. And not harsh.
And what a difference it makes.

This post is inspired by the snippet above, taken from episode 23 The decisive heart-searching is the beginning of a human way from Tankespjärn with Helena Roth, a podcast of meandering conversations, this time with Mayke Vullings.