Hi,
It's Brooks.
It's good to be here with you.
Today,
I'd like to talk with you about the idea of considering yourself first.
There's something very kind and gentle on that.
Especially the word consider.
It's not,
You have to come first,
Or you should come first.
Consider.
Why don't you give this a try?
Perhaps you might like this.
Consider.
Am I first?
But considering yourself first.
I'm talking about the idea of beginning to take yourself into consideration regarding anything that's happening.
Considering yourself as the source.
How do I feel about what's happening?
Am I enjoying myself?
Or does this hurt?
It's wanting to know.
Wanting to know how do I feel?
Is this something I want to do?
Or is this not something I want to do?
And you're considering yourself first because you love yourself.
And that's not a foreign job to take to say that you love yourself.
Because first off,
You're listening to this recording.
So that means there must be a part of you that cares about yourself.
Because you're wanting to find new and helpful ways to enjoy your life.
And when you care,
There's love behind that.
So the idea of considering yourself first means that you want to do that because you love yourself.
You want to provide yourself comfort.
You want to remove anything that hurts.
So considering yourself first.
Let's do that right now.
Take a moment.
If you want,
You can close your eyes.
Notice your breath coming in and out.
Feel yourself relaxing.
And let your attention fall on your mind and on your body.
Consider it a loving attention.
You're putting a loving attention on your mind and on your body.
How does it feel to have that kind of attention on yourself?
How does it feel to be considering yourself right now?
When we put attention on ourselves like this,
We're considering ourselves first.
Everything else falls by the wayside.
All the things that we thought we needed to do.
Everybody else.
They fade away.
And there's you.
As you consider yourself in this kind way.
And your attention is a very kind thing.
Pure attention.
Focusing on something very openly like this.
It has a kind aroma.
It has a kind aura.
It's a blanket of love.
It's okay to consider yourself like this.
You deserve it.
You deserve it because you exist.
Because you're alive.
Because you are.
Here you are.
Because you exist,
You deserve the kindness.
You deserve the attention.
You deserve this consideration from yourself.
You never have to earn your love.
You never have to earn your kindness.
You always deserve kindness.
There's so many voices out there in the world asking for your attention.
But it's your attention.
You know from experience that if you give your attention,
Always putting it out there.
Always giving it to,
Considering so many other things besides yourself.
You know that can be,
From experience,
You know that can be very exhausting and draining.
And the more it happens,
The more drained you get.
But right now,
By considering yourself first with this warm attention,
And you start to become yourself again,
You get yourself back.
And it's natural to consider yourself first.
If you're out for a walk and you have a stone in your shoe,
It's uncomfortable.
You don't keep walking,
You stop,
You untie your shoelaces,
You take off your shoe,
You shake it.
Out comes the stone,
A little pebble or whatever falls on the ground.
It's natural to do that,
To tend to yourself in that way.
It's natural to consider yourself.
Put your shoe back on,
Tie your laces,
And you continue walking and it feels so much better.
Because you took care of yourself.
So it's natural to want to do that.
It's natural to want to remove a source of pain.
It's natural to want to provide ourselves with comfort.
And that's what considering yourself first means.
And we consider ourselves like we're doing right now.
We consider ourselves first.
And we feel reconnected with our hearts,
Our mind and our body.
And with that comes greater energy and clarity,
Intuition.
And with that comes a feeling of confidence too.
It's natural to feel more confident when you're considering yourself first.
Because you're remembering,
Oh yeah,
I deserve this attention,
This warm,
Kind attention.
Because I exist,
I'm alive,
I'm worth this.
It's a very simple,
Simple confidence.
Because you have an innate worth,
Innate value,
Just by your being alive.
It doesn't matter what's happening in your life.
Your value is inherent,
You can't lose your value.
You can't lose your worth,
Regardless of what's happening in your life.
And we consider ourselves first in this way.
There's no longer that feeling of if I just do,
Fill in the blank,
Or I just am,
Or I just become,
Or I just whatever.
If I just do what I can consider myself,
Then I'm okay.
Well we know from experience that that's a very exhausting way to live.
So we accept,
Oh I'm alive,
I exist.
So I'm going to consider myself,
Because it feels good.
I'm going to consider myself right now.
And considering yourself,
You're learning to treat yourself,
To take care of yourself.
It starts to become more of a natural activity for you.
Because you feel like,
Oh I'm enough right now,
And I'm worthy of this kind of attention.
So we're going to end this meditation right now.
You can open your eyes,
Or you can continue to stay in this kind place of considering yourself first.
And you can tell yourself,
Since this is a natural behavior to consider yourself first like this,
That I can feel this way whenever I want to.
I can naturally take care of myself in this way,
Whenever I feel like it,
In a spontaneous way.
So I wish you the best.
Take care.
