Loved Anyway !!!

If you’ve ever caught yourself, at any point in your life wondering-

“Would anyone still love me… if I wasn’t trying so hard?”
Or perhaps…
“Would they still accept me, still include me, still want me,if I stopped performing, stopped pleasing, stopped pretending?”

Then this- this is for you my dear reader.

If you ever wondered what would happen if you dropped the mask. If you let the tears come instead of swallowing them back. If you stopped being agreeable just to keep the peace and simply existed- messy, emotional, real.

Would love survive that version of you?

The one who is silent some days, sharp-edged on others.
The one whose softness hides beneath a strong act, whose truth is sometimes tangled, unsure or hard to hold?

If that question has ever lived quietly in your chest,
then let these words be your answer-

The world taught us early how to shine in ways that please. How to perform belonging. How to keep the room comfortable, even when we are falling apart inside.

But let me tell you something, not as advice, not as poetry, but as something that has lived in my heart-

The deepest kind of love, the rare, life-altering kind- is not the one that arrives when you’re at your best. It’s the one that stays when you’re not easy to be around. When your wounds are loud. When your walls are high. When your past walks into the room before you do and your self-doubt clings to every word you speak. It’s not love that demands you to be “better” before it offers warmth. It doesn’t turn away. It doesn’t bargain. It just stays. And when you taste that kind of love, even once, it changes you.

Not because it flatters you. But because it frees you.

You begin to unclench. To exhale. To believe, maybe for the first time, that you are not too much or too little. You are simply, deeply, heartbreakingly human. You stop shrinking to be accepted. You stop editing your soul to fit a frame that was never meant for you. Instead, you start standing tall in your flawed, magnificent skin and whisper-
Here I am. All of me. And I am loved.

That is the beginning of a homecoming. Not to someone else’s arms, but to your own heart.

Because being loved anyway, when the seams show, when the mascara runs, when the silence stretches, when your anger erupts like a storm, is where the sacred truly lives. It’s not the kind of love that wants something from you. It’s the kind that holds you when you have nothing left to give.

It’s the text that says- I’m here, even when you canceled again. It’s the hand that reaches for yours not when you’re glowing, but when you’re gasping. It’s someone sitting beside you in your storm- not trying to fix it, not handing you sunshine, just choosing not to leave.

And maybe, if we’re lucky, we taste this love not only from others,but from ourselves. Maybe we start to become the ones who stay. With our own hearts. With our mess. With our tired bodies and beautiful scars. And in that staying, with a gaze that holds instead of fixes, we begin to unlearn every version of ourselves we thought we had to become.

We are loved.
Still.
Not because of what we bring.
But because we exist.
And in that tender truth, the heart finally comes home…~ Latika Teotia

Just listen !!!

Though saying “me too” and “same here” allow others to open up and connect with us more but when someone is sharing his/her heart, we shouldn’t interrupt; as interruption might break their flow of thoughts which may make them forget the most important point or they just might get put off.

We should try to curb the desire of sharing our personal experience at that moment and just listen patiently. Maybe at some other  point of time , we can share that we also feel or think the similar way about that particular issue. ~Latika Teotia

Loneliness and depression !!!

It is only human to long for emotional support and there’s nothing wrong or demeaning about it. Loneliness is a major cause of depression and leads to negativity; thereafter it is downhill all the way. In such times people need emotional support of someone who believes in them. Seeking or accepting support during these times is very courageous and a positive step. In fact it is the self affirming support of family & friends, that pulls out people from depression and restores self confidence, self esteem as well as self belief. ~Latika Teotia

It is always advisable to be a good listener !!!

Sometimes in our exuberance we overstep ourselves. Someone may be passing through a difficult time and no sooner do they start talking about their problems than we interrupt them with quick fix solutions. We couldn’t be more wrong in our approach. Perhaps all that the other person wants is to unwind and just talk. Nothing more. People want to be assured that you’ll be there when they need you. Right now all they want you to do is to sympathetically lend your ear! It is always advisable to be a good listener. ~Latika Teotia

Love and Care unconditionally !!!

Broken hearts behave in a million different ways- some of them are most unpredictable. More often than not such persons build walls around them and drive their loved ones crazy with their erratic behavior. Don’t give up on them at this time; it is now that they need you the most. Give them time and space. Then nurse them, mend their broken feathers and send them on their way fully recovered ready to face the world. ~Latika Teotia

Victims must be shown kindness, encouraged and rehabilitated !!!

There’s nothing wrong with victims of any kind of abuse; they are perfectly normal. It is the ones that abuse others, who are not normal. It is they who have twisted minds and need to be corrected or counselled.

Unfortunately people look down upon the abused victims as if they’ve done something wrong and make them feel ashamed as well as guilty- which is not fair and absolutely incorrect. Victims must be shown kindness, encouraged and rehabilitated at the earliest and those who abused them must be ostracized.

If you have been the victim of any kind of abuse, take down those walls of guilt, don’t hide behind dark doors, face the light and take charge of your life. Seek support- if required.

You must understand that you have done nothing wrong and must not feel guilty or have low self esteem of yourself; it is the one who has abused you who should be running for cover. All you need at this point of time is love, self love and lots of self confidence. Believe in yourself and have faith in your ability to bounce back. ~Latika Teotia

Stay blessed !!!

You are strong and you know it. Even when you are faced with problems, all you have to do is look within and you’ll find that not only are you capable of solving it but you can handle it much better than you think. So don’t lose heart. However, if you think that you are all alone with your problems may God fill you with hope and may you always be blessed with the kind of support you need. Stay blessed. ~Latika Teotia