A poem touched me so deeply last week, sent by my friend, the amazing massage therapist Hana Levin, who runs Melt Massage in Oakland, California. Her gifted hands can massage you for up to four hours! Can you imagine a four-hour massage?

To me, these words are a reminder to be easy and compassionate with yourself. In our push, push, push world, sometimes that thrusting forward motion just grows tiresome. Recently, I found myself utterly exhausted, empty of energy. I realized that like everyone else, I am vulnerable to overdoing it. These wise words helped give me permission to take it easy, to rest and renew.

So let me pass along this beautiful poem. May it uplift and inspire you…

If You Would Grow – Shine The Light Of Loving Self-Care On Yourself

If you would grow to your best self
Be patient, not demanding
Accepting, not condemning
Nurturing, not withholding
Self-marveling, not belittling
Gently guiding, not pushing and punishing
For you are more sensitive than you know
Mankind is as tough as war yet delicate as flowers
We can endure agonies but we open fully only to warmth and light
And our need to grow is as fragile as a fragrance Dispersed by storms of will
To return only when those storms are still
So, accept, respect, attend your sensitivity
A flower cannot be opened with a hammer.
- Daniel F. Mead

Keep shining the light of loving self-care on yourself!

Susan