Jul. 16th, 2009

evile: (Celtic Knot)
Today's Gift - 07/16/2009

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other.
--Rainer Maria Rilke


Mature love is a powerful and wonderful thing that has to be learned in adulthood. Children are certainly capable of loving and receiving love, but they are not yet fully formed as individuals. Adult intimacy is like a bridge spanning the space between two people. When our intimate partner confides in us and becomes vulnerable, our task is to make that moment safe. And when we become vulnerable, we have a right to the same safety - which means no disrespect and no demeaning or abusive behavior. When someone puts trust in us, it is our duty to honor it.

Some of us grew up in families where love was paired with abuse and disrespect. The very people who loved us sometimes deliberately hurt us. As adults we may find ourselves being more decent and polite to strangers than to our loved ones. This becomes our adult challenge: to act respectfully to our loved onesand protect and honor the trust they have placed in us.

Today I will be most respectful of my intimate partner, who is the most vulnerable to me.


You are reading from the book:



Wisdom to Know by Anonymous


Wisdom to Know. Copyright 2005 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of Hazelden.


______________________________________________________________________
Please do not reply to this email.

Today's Gift daily emails are provided at no cost by the Hazelden Foundation and are sent only to those who sign up for them.

To prevent our emails from being blocked, add todaysgift@hazelden.info to your Contacts or Address Book.

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES:

Tochange your email address or take yourself off the Today's Gift mailing list write to todaysgift@hazelden.org or go online at Maintaining your Today's Gift subscription

Profile

evile: (Default)
evile

July 2025

S M T W T F S
  123 45
6789 101112
13141516171819
202122 232425 26
2728 293031  

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Aug. 12th, 2025 06:49 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios