For most people it is hard to open the heart. To just allow love to flow freely in and out. It is hard because we are so guarded, I think especially here in Scandinavia. A friend of mine argued yesterday that it has something to do with the cold and the light. We crawl deep inside ourselves during the dark times and we shut down, we stay hidden, we avoid openness. It may be true, or maybe we are just as afraid of rejection as everyone else.
Whatever the reason for our reluctance to open up it is only the first step, the easy step. Because once we have opened our hearts, once we have decided to overcome our fears and step through our guilt and shame, once we have chosen love and risked our hearts the real challenge is to stay open. To stay out there in the wild with our shields down.
I feel like every day, every hour there are reasons for me to shut down, to crawl back into my shell and protect myself. Staying open requires me to feel, to feel deeply every high and every low. It requires me to stay at risk, stay vulnerable. It is scary and it is hard. If I do not pay attention the door to my heard slowly closes, inch by inch and suddenly it is closed again and I am back at square one.
Staying open requires a daily commitment, a daily choosing to be open, to love and to feel. It is not easy, but it is worth it!
