REserve: No More Holding Back

 

REserve: No More Holding Back

This one is for all of you who have been taken advantage of. It’s for those who have been burned, who have decided – at one time or another – that there’s good reason to protect yourself, to hold back until it’s safe.

It’s for you and your children and your children’s children.

Actually, I hope it’s a lifeline out of a position you were never meant to be in….

As I considered what new mindset I was to bring forth this month, the word “reserve” came to me, along with an invitation to reexamine that word, with the promise of hidden treasure within….

As you know by now, I love words and their meaning. I love discovering the intended purpose of words (just as I’ve made a life discovering the intended purpose of people, families, and businesses!)

So what comes to mind with the word “reserve”?

• Typically, we describe someone as “reserved” when they’re quiet, timid, or reticent

• We “reserve” judgment about a person until they’ve proved themselves

• And we “reserve” the best time, the best stuff, the best treatment for those who deserve it

The connotations of reserve are about holding back, whether it’s ourselves, our judgment, our affection, our service, and our best.

After all, you might have good reason for being reticent; you learned the “hard way” not to open up.

It might be unwise to give freely if someone isn’t honest or grateful.

It might serve some agenda for you to decide who gets something from you.

But man that takes a lot of emotional energy.

And actually, holding back can be a symptom of judgment. We hold back what we do or think until someone convinces us that they’re worthy of our investment. We do it because of fear, doubt, or because we’ve been trained that it’s “wise,” but really, keeping others at bay until they meet our standards can be an isolating ivory tower.

And do you and I WANT to be people who are always measuring and evaluating before we’ll act?

Do we want to begin from a position of “back there,” looking out of critical eyes?

Do we want to wait for others – or situations – to be proved before we will give of ourselves?

(If we’ve been hurt, our answer may very well be “YES!”)

I began to see the word “reserve” in its two parts: RE (back or again) and SERVE.

Just think: if we are willing to drop the suspicion and the measuring stick and allow ourselves to be moved by love and service, WE will be transformed from the inside out.

Forget the outcome for others for a minute; let’s think about the impact for US – if we could somehow part with the fear that we’re going to be judged, burned, or unappreciated or wronged, just imagine how freeing that would be!

So, give yourself this gift: let go of the “what ifs” and abandon yourself to the possibility of giving of yourself (serving) without expectation or demand.

Relax into the ultimate possibility of giving yourself luxuriously. When you do – with our without regard from others – you will clear the pipe so love can flow from heaven through you. And heaven’s love has no limits, no measurements, and no bounds.

When we clear those obstacles of hurt and criticism from our lives, we are finally able to conduct the currency of heaven. (When we’re all bound up in held-back reservation and stipulation, the internal chaos inside us is incompatible with this pure stream!)

Yes, it’s true: making a decision to RE-SERVE is really making a choice to put ourselves “back out there.” We choose to become vulnerable.

When we remove the limits for others to “qualify” for our esteem, service, and love, we access a viewpoint of light and life. Things and people look far more appealing in this favorable light.

And the funny thing is, even WE begin to look more favorable to ourselves when we have dropped our stipulations.

The more we remove limitations and return to serving others – even those who we think “don’t deserve it” – the more we participate in the unconditional love of heaven.

Have you ever been lavishly served? Loved beyond reason when YOU didn’t earn it or couldn’t return it? Given opportunity and favor and benefit from perfect strangers, even?

 

Doesn’t it feel wonderful?

 

Doesn’t it heal something to believe in folks again?

 

And, ironically, doesn’t it make you want to live up into the favor you were shown?

Sometimes it’s even unnerving to receive the gift of someone’s time and energy free of qualifiers…and what are we compelled to do when that happens? We look for hidden agendas! Why? Because it’s just so unusual to encounter people who will care beyond their own gain and extend beyond their own circle.

Let’s be those kind of people! The ones with smiles and open arms. The ones that don’t use people or give to get.  The ones with light in their eyes. The ones who just model a lifestyle of kindness.

Because THAT LIFE becomes infectious. That life carries favor and blessing and resources with it.

That life models forgiveness and wholeness and honors people. That life is passed down to our children and to theirs.

I hope you’ll join us in our journey to be “that kind of people”!

~Vicki Norris

 

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