Receive. With open arms, palms, heart, belly, mind. Because you are worthy.

Blessed girl here. I’m fully aware that I’m blessed. I’m aware that I am worthy of beautiful experiences. Worthy of beautiful things simply because I Am. Worthy of receiving without having to ask. Worthy of intentionality. Worthy of attentiveness. Worthy.

Benny Stake, I love her content on Instagram. She’s so funny. So warm. So loving. She recently shared a transparent post about receiving without guilt. Receiving without feeling like she’s in debt to what she’s received. She spoke specifically about her spouse sending her away on a staycation. A staycation with no responsibilities. A staycation for her to enjoy alone time. A staycation just for her. For whatever she wants.

She expresses feeling the need to do so many different things in preparation for what she was receiving. This made her reflect on her worthiness and her behavior around receiving. It made her acknowledge that her husband knows she is worthy and expresses that in their relationship.

Unfortunately many people, women more specifically, have a culturally and socially ingrained disposition that they must pay their partners for what their partners willingly give. While I understand that this transactional dynamic does exist in some relationships, whether romantic or platonic, I’m learning to openly and warmly receive from all relationships because I Am. I am worthy of receiving good and beautiful things.

My spouse surprised me with a Shih Tzu for our two year wedding anniversary. It shocked me. It’s blessed me. But I  must admit, I do feel indebted. Even after 5 years of being together, I’ve been catching myself in these reflective moments where I’m questioning whether I owe him or if I should do something for him since he’s done something for me. I’m learning now that this is not necessary. I’m also learning that this thinking and feeling pattern will take time to work out of my body, my mind, my spirit. I understand that my doing for him is simply because he is also worthy.

From the very beginning of our relationship he’s consistently given to me in a way that I’ve never experienced before. For the first time in my life I was questioning why someone so willingly would give to me so much of themselves; mentally, emotionally, physically, financially without needing me to do something to match it.

It is a new experience. And I’m actively learning to embrace it wholly, without questioning; without shrinking. We show up for each other. We reciprocate care for each other.

It takes time to choose a different way of being. It takes time to embody new experiences that sit outside of the patterns that have existed within our bodies for years. Patterns passed from generations prior. Patterns indoctrinated through culture and society. Unhealthy patterns that make us diminish our worth. Patterns that render us useless without doing.

Being makes me and you worthy.

So begin today. Practice receiving without guilt, until you can embody it as your nature.

So receive. With open arms, palms, heart, belly, mind. Because you are worthy of beautiful things.