We can learn to love like the sun
The Sun Never Says (a poem by Hafiz)
Even
After
All this time
The Sun never says to the earth,
“You owe
Me.”
Look
What happens
With a love like that,
It lights the
Whole
Sky.
***
How different would the world be if we loved like this?
How many times do we do something out of “love” while deep down we expect something in return?
I know I do this…how about you?
I think I’m doing something for someone (something nice, something loving, or something for them when it’s really for me). But then I get mad, or hurt, or frustrated, or resentful, or feel taken advantage of, whatever else, when they don’t acknowledge it, notice it, or respond at all, or respond in the way I deep down had expected they would.
How different would life be if we practice becoming more aware of our expectations and motivations? If we practice owning and being honest about our expectations and motivations. If we practice pausing before reacting, noticing what we’re feeling, and knowing that our expectations are our responsibility, not the other person’s.
The simple (challenging) act of pausing and noticing our emotions before we react, without judging ourselves, just noticing. The more we practice it, this can lead to being more aware of, honest about, and owning our expectations and motivations. And that can lead to disrupting unhelpful patterns and creating new ones. This is both science and spiritual, it’s mind-body-spirit work. It’s a mindfulness practice—it requires a choice to practice paying attention. It also helps re-wire the brain / neurological pathways.
Change is possible. We can learn to love like the Sun.
The above poem is by the Persian poet Hafiz (Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafiz c. 1320-1389), translated by Daniel Ladinsky in The Gift (published by the Penguin Group), a collection of Hafiz poems. I also highly recommend that book.
