You are reading from The Language of Letting Go by Melodie Beattie
MARCH 26
GIFTS, NOT BURDENS
Children are gifts, if we accept them.
--Kathleen Turner Crilly
Children are gifts. Our children, if we have children, are a gift to us.
We, as children, were gifts to our parents.
Sadly, many of us did not receive the message from our parents that we were gifts to them and to the universe. Maybe our parents were in pain themselves; maybe our parents were looking to us to be their caretakers; maybe we came at a difficult time in their lives; maybe they had their own issues and simply were not able to enjoy, accept, and appreciate us for the gifts we are.
Many of us have deep, sometimes subconscious, belief that we were, and are, a burden to the world and the people around us. This belief can block our ability to enjoy life and our relationship with a Higher Power: we may feel we are a burden to God.
If we have that belief, it is time to let it go.
We are not a burden. We never were. If we received that message from our parents, it is time to recognize that issue as theirs to resolve.
We have a right to treat ourselves as a gift--to ourselves, to others, and to the universe.
We are here, and we have a right to be here.
Today, I will treat myself, and any children I have, as though we are a gift. I will let go of any beliefs I have about being a burden--to my Higher Power, my friends, my family, and myself.