{"id":9839,"date":"2022-12-13T12:42:47","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T18:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theclarion.org\/?p=9839"},"modified":"2022-12-13T12:42:47","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T18:42:47","slug":"love-shouldnt-hurt-ever-92","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/?p=9839","title":{"rendered":"Love shouldn\u2019t hurt &#8211; ever"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>\u2018Tis the season of giving and receiving<\/strong> <br \/>\nOften we think of our needs as a burden to others, we don\u2019t want to worry our friends and family or impose on their time. <!--more-->We may think, \u201cthey have enough on their plate, I can handle it.\u201d However, when our shame and discomfort in asking for help prevents us from making requests and we decide on behalf of the other person we are denying them the opportunity to help meet our needs. Giving, receiving, and supporting each other is a beautiful natural impulse. Think about the last time you helped a friend, family member, co-worker, or partner \u2013 it felt good, right? Our very survival as a species is rooted in our interdependence. Generosity is the most natural outward expression of an inner attitude of compassion and kindness.<\/p>\n<p>Receiving is necessary and important and it offers a chance for others to give. It\u2019s not about expecting others to give, it\u2019s about receiving without guilt or neediness, and without feeling obligated to give back. Do away with negative thoughts such as, \u201cI don\u2019t deserve this\u201d or \u201cnow I owe them,\u201d and instead reflect on your friendship and the love and support from the giver. Marshall B. Rosenberg said, \u201cWhat I want in my life is compassion, a flow between myself and others based on a mutual giving from the heart.\u201d We can think of asking for our needs to be met as a gift, in other words, a request for help can become an invitation to experience the joy of giving and receiving. Fear of rejection or failure often prevents us from asking for help, but we can never be one hundred percent certain of an outcome, the only thing we know for certain is that if we don\u2019t ask, then it\u2019s guaranteed that we won\u2019t get the help we need.<\/p>\n<p>Reflect on a time when you helped someone because of a genuine desire to do so. How did it feel? When we give from a place of love and without expecting anything in return it can be an energizing and freeing experience. In the words of Maya Angelou, \u201cWhen we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.\u201d Happy Holidays!<\/p>\n<p>If you or someone you know has experienced intimate partner violence, Crisis Services of North Alabama can help. Please contact us locally at 256.574.5826, on our 24\/7 HELPline at 256.716.1000, or at our website www.csna.org. Advocates provide free, confidential support to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.<\/p>\n<p>-Rebecca Hieronymi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Tis the season of giving and receiving Often we think of our needs as a burden to others, we don\u2019t want to worry our friends and family or impose on their time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-love-shouldnt-hurt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9840,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9839\/revisions\/9840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}