Women's Empowerment Stories ...

Restore your Inner Home (Part 2)
~ Cena

We cannot learn how to become better internal housekeepers until we learn to accept the space that is inherently ours.

We all need a home and the universe provides this, free of charge, for each and every one of us long before we are ever born, long before our parents, and their parents and their parents were born - we each have our spot reserved just for us. This home is within us, around us, it is the scope of our vision, the depth of our feelings, the strength and the frailty of our thoughts. It is ours to claim and to it we must tend—each to our own.

We have all met people that seem larger than life - people who occupy more space than seems humanly possible, more space than most can ever imagine occupying. Conversely, many of us women are consistently crawling into ourselves simply to avoid taking up any more space than is absolutely necessary - we actively try to avoid ‘bothering’ others with our own needs and desires. We want not to put others out. We politely, often quietly, insist we do not need anything, really.

In doing so, we unconsciously place our inner home on the market, "unused space for rent - apply within." When we choose not to occupy our own space, something or someone will occupy it for us - leaving no room for personal growth, no room for self-love or self-discovery. No room for accurate reflection or quiet contentment. No room for peace or respect. No room for self-possession.

When we allow someone to take up more space, more time than we feel we have the right to occupy within our lives, we fail to acknowledge the importance of our part in that relationship - and oft times in existence. This self-abnegation creates an imbalance within us and within the universe as a whole. And our whole world shifts creating chaos.

There are inhabitants within our soul and most of us require no rent. Some tenants are beautiful. They wait patiently with us, taking great care of the space within, adding to - not diminishing - our existence. And yet, some hope never to have us occupy our own space, our own time. At times, we willingly render ourselves insignificant for them. We become helpless in their occupation, if we choose to be, and we have. Nothing can prevent others from invading us, when we choose not to claim ourselves. Our space, our time is left open for the taking.

As women we are taught to contain our effect on the world, to "be-little" ourselves. To be small. To go out of our way to leave no trace behind. In doing so, we have left ourselves open to all kinds of abuse from others and from ourselves. It is not until we unlearn these lessons and begin to embrace our own importance that we can truly occupy as much space and time as we are worth—as we are afforded by our very existence. Then, and only then, will we be truly prepared to restore what is salvageable and find the courage to let go of what is not.

~ Cena