When someone shows you who they are believe them the first time.  People Know themselves much better than you do.  That’s why it’s important to stop expecting them to be something other than who they are.  - Maya Angelou

I touched on this in my previous blog.  So let’s get into it.  I think that once you really start trying to accept yourself you need to face the other side of it and that is accepting others.  And trust me the universe will start to give you opportunities to practice this more and more right around this time.  You may not be where you want to be with this.  I know I wasn’t.  But I am realizing that I was looking to others and expecting them to not be themselves as well as myself.  Or I was seeing where they could be and not understanding why they were not there.  But that’s just it.  It’s where I think they should be, not where they want to be or think they should be.  That advice by Maya Angelou I started this blog with is great advice, right?  Well I want to take this a step further.  So yes, believe them and accept them as is, but that’s doesn’t mean I need to hang out with them or be their friends.  Just look to them exactly as they are and see them as being right where they need to be.  It’s a tough one to swallow I know because we care and want the best for others.  But sometimes the best for them is right where they are and the best for you could mean not to be around them.  But here’s the catch.  Don’t ever let that stop your growth.  Don’t become less than you’ve become!  A dear friend of mine who I was talking to about this gave me some great insight.  I told her that I was seeing examples of this showing up in my life and my filter was pretty much non-existent.  So clearly, I was having a hard time with it and didn’t know why.  Why can’t I just accept people and not let them rub me the wrong way?!!  This is what she said. 

Sometimes when one is moving higher and can "see" the whole picture, the "higher perspective”, you will find that others are not standing next to you like they once were.  You just have to let them go with love.  Just visualize them going with love-you saying goodbye, cutting the string, walking in opposite directions...whatever it takes.  You can't bring everyone along.  Their path is their path; your job is not to convince them of anything; just be YOU and by being that you are an example.  Those who follow do and the rest just let go.  What I am feeling is the resistance to letting them go. 

She was 100% right.  Carole is one wise cookie!  If I didn’t care it wouldn’t bother me and she is right.  People come and go into your life for a reason and at the perfect moments.  I was listening to Eckhart Tolle on this subject and he made a great point too.  He said to look at these moments as opportunities to work out your higher consciousness muscle.  It’s just like working out in the gym.  You will feel uncomfortable and soreness at times.  But the stronger you get the easier it will be accepting others. 

Dr. Brian Weiss always says that this is earth school and we are all in different grades.  Some of us are first graders and some of us are in middle school or highschool etc.  We are all at different levels of awareness and that’s just part of life.  He is so right.  So what I am learning in all of this is that while I am working on accepting myself, I am being reminded to accept others.  They really do go hand in hand.  And really, we are all exactly where we need to be and it’s all good.