Before we can begin to grow and develop Self Love, there is one simple step that cannot be skipped. It's so obvious that most people never even consider it. Or they give it only a passing glance and skip on to the "juicier" bits.
Skipping this sets up a shoddy foundation for future growth. Unless this is done properly, you wind up with an ad hock armistice, which is basically saying, "I'm too beat down to continue, so I'm going to agree to put my arms down until I'm strong enough to fight again. And then it's ON." You've probably done this before by mistake. We're not doing that again...
What could be so important, you ask?
Making peace.
I don't mean for a moment. I mean a binding agreement for lasting peace and a commitment to complete reconciliation. Throughout this course we're going to explore many aspects of reconciling our relationship with ourselves, but unless we decide for peace and commit to it fully right from the get go, we'll never get past the surface layers.
How do we do this?
With a peace treaty, of course!
If you're here right now, investing your time, effort, energy, and money into a course on Self Love, then t's not a stretch to assume that you are experiencing some level conflict within yourself.
Maybe it's little battles that come up just in time to sabotage your happiness, break connection, or pull the rug out from your best efforts toward success.
Maybe it's an ongoing campaign waged against the dark and scary parts of you that you just can't bare to look at and definitely don't want anyone to see. Like trench warfare, constant pressure to break the other side in a war of attrition.
Or it could be all-out-no-holds-barred guerilla warfare on every aspect of your being. Constant gunfire and vitriol in your head in a brutal fight to the death. Booby traps and snipers everywhere, without a modicum of safety to be found.
Whatever it is. It stops today.
Right. Now.
You're going to write and sign a peace treaty with yourself.
You can write it in any way you want, formally or informally (there is a more formal example for you to download here and below on this page).
Your peace treaty needs to include the following...
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A declaration of peace
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A list of grievances- big and small. They all matter. You will very likely have more than listed on the example document.
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An absolute commitment to keeping the peace.
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Measures to be taken should this peace be broken. Spoiler alert: it probably will...
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The date and your signature.
Some helpful tips...
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Handwrite it. It's more personal that way.
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Don't worry about getting it perfect. Think of this as a living document. You're going to revisit and revise it often, especially at first.
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Don't skip it or just think it up in your head. Write it out, sign it and date it.
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Don't hold back. The more fully you commit yourself the more powerful the peace you'll create, and the easier every other step after this will be, and believe me there are some doozys on the way...
If it's helpful for you to share yours with the group, you can attach it to a comment below. No pressure though. The important thing is that you do this for YOU, and the sooner the better.
Here's to lasting peace.
Nick
