Oct 09, 2019 by Renee Linnell

"In my defenselessness my safety lies," says The Course in Miracles. 

I walk into my local spa and a golden retriever mix greets me. I have never seen her before. She approaches me, tail wagging back and forth, and then drops to the ground, rolls over, and offers me her tummy. I immediately respond: I drop to the floor as well, overcome with love for her, and I begin to stroke her belly and offer kind, loving, soothing words. I tell her how beautiful she is and how good. I tell her how much I love her. We are both in bliss. And we just met. Instant love. And I think of how vulnerable she is. How instinctively she knows she was born to give love and receive it. And how by dropping to the ground and offering her belly she immediately said, "Give me the best of yourself; I trust you to do it." 

I wish we all were this way. We were as babies. We had to be. Not able to feed ourselves or hold our own heads up, we had to rely on the love and kindness, the goodness of strangers. And we were protected. Most of us were taken care of and protected. Why do we change? What happens? I wish we could stay this loving and trusting and kind; knowing our needs will be taken care of, that we will always be provided for, that if the Universe has planted a seed of desire within us, that It has the wherewithall to deliver exactly what we desire.

When we drop our defenses, we encourage others to do so, as well. When we strip off our facades, when we become authentic, we become so much more likeable, so much more loveable. As we evolve it is our duty to let old defenses fall away, to sand away our rough edges, to become more approachable, more loving, kinder, more compassionate. Ironically, the walls we built to protect ourselves from getting hurt end up hurting us the most. And the facades we created to become loveable push people away. When we are willing to be gooey and raw and true the world opens to us. And everyone wants to stop, drop to the ground, offer kind words, and rub our bellies. 

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