“Sanctuary” is a word derived from the Latin, “sanctarium,” which means “a container that keeps a cherished or sacred thing safe.”  The word, as used by the Greco-Romans referred to places of holiness or safety.

Even though the word is often traced only as far as the Greek and Roman empires and their temples, the concept of a place of refuge is universal.  It appears in almost all of the cultural and spiritual traditions from all over the world and has been around for thousands of years.

Some say the idea of giving people a space that provides them safety from the persecution of their oppressors or gives them a respite from their troubles is derived from the most basic features of human altruism.  We are, after all, hardwired to help other people during the hard times.

In these post-modern times, we’d probably call it some version of “paying it forward.”

We might provide this space for others in the hope that if, at some point, we are in a bad way there will be someone there to offer us help.  Often, too, the act of providing refuge is an acknowledgement of having received such help when we needed it our own selves.

It occurred to me that if “sanctuary” is a container for the sacred and the cherished, then whatever is put inside a sanctuary is, according to the definition, a sacred, cherished thing.

Hmmm….

THINKING, THINKING, THINKING

Here are a couple of harsh truths:  The world can be an uncertain and fearsome place.  All humans are fragile and can break.

Sometimes the cavalry just ain’t coming and often refuge is hard to find.  The only choices you have then are either to duck and run or turn around and deal with what’s in your face.  (In either case, you might die…but, then again, maybe not.)

And here are another couple of truths that are not so harsh:  All humans are a conduit for the power of the Creative and each one of us helps to build the world in which we live.

And, perhaps, in those latter truths there may be a way to get on with doing your own walk through the world.  Maybe there is a way to be a sanctuary for your own precious and sacred self.

Another IPS (Inner Peace Symptom):  an understanding that you can make a sanctuary for yourself that endures.  [The price for that is developing yourself into a person you can trust to meet whatever comes at you the best way you can.]

OH, NO!  NOT ANOTHER SAPPY WOO-WOO INJUNCTION….

Yeah, yeah, I know.  It sounds like that other ubiquitous bit of advice that’s slung around willy-nilly about how you’ve got to love yourself before you can love anybody else.

That’s sort of a truth.  The real is that even though you don’t love yourself very much, it’s likely that you’ll know something about how to connect with other people around you and maybe you’ll love them dearly even if you can’t show it very well.

Saints and other blessed sorts do it all the time.  So do lots of ordinary folks and those who habitually tweet or spend half their time on Facebook doing silly selfies and food snapshots.

(It’s another human thing.  We very often do the best we can with what we’ve got.)

Most of us, though, have not been taught how to love ourselves. Often we’ve even been discouraged from doing so.  (It is more than possible that we’ve never even been introduced to our own selves and we don’t even know where to start.)

This 2020 YouTube Video, “Why You Need to Stop Trying to Be Loved But Love Yourself Instead,” was published by English author, nutritionist, hypnotherapist trainer and motivational speaker Marisa Peer to introduce her book, “I AM ENOUGH:  Mark Your Mirror and Change Your Life.”

Peer is the creator of “Rapid Transformational Therapy,” which she developed over her thirty years of working as a life coach and advisor for “royalty, rock stars, actors, professional and Olympic athletes, CEOs and media personalities,” it says here.  I’ve included it in this post because it does give you a good place to start on building your own trust in yourself and appreciating your own self-worth.

Peer does a really good job of delineating the advantages and benefits of embodying the idea that you are “enough.”

If you know that you are actually “enough” and if you can consistently work on learning how to deal with the world on your own terms, then it’s much more likely that you’ll be able to make yourself into that person you know you can trust.

You’ll probably be better able to accept whatever help you might receive along the way as well.

THE TRICKY THING ABOUT TRUST

Trust is all about knowing that somebody’s got your back.  It is earned, that trust.  A trustworthy person will consistently act in a certain way that works for you.

You can’t trust someone you don’t know or someone who you have not seen being tested by challenging circumstances.

It stands to reason, then, that you will probably not trust yourself if you don’t know how or why you stand and move as you do or if you’ve never allowed yourself to face and resolve trying situations.

If you get blindsided by your own shadows and demons every time you step out and try something new or different, it is unlikely you’ll even WANT to step outside your own comfort zone.  And if you never do anything new or different, that comfort zone is going to be mighty small.

How are you going to dream a dream and make the moves to go get it if that dream is different than what you already know?

Trusting yourself is actually a prerequisite for being a person who knows what they really want.  Trusting yourself also means giving yourself permission (and the desire to develop the ability) to go towards the dream you want even if nobody else believes in it.

You’re going to need all that when you go for your dream, you know.

FINAL THOUGHT

This 2018 YouTube video, “You Are Who You Are Looking For” features motivational speaker and spoken word poet Adam Roa.  It was uploaded by Goalcast.

You can learn more about Roa’s work by clicking the button below.

Here’s a poem:

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TIGER EYES

There are tiger eyes in the mirror

Staring back at me,

Calm, alert to all around them,

Wells of warm placidity.

 

There are tiger eyes in the mirror

And I just have to smile.

They tell me now I’m strong enough

To deal with this world’s guile.

 

There are tiger eyes in the mirror,

Loving and serene.

Trusting the beast once hated

Seems to be transforming me.

Created by Netta Kanoho

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Header photo credit:  “Sunrise: Life at 10,000 feet” by Mattie B via Flickr [CC BY-SA 2.0]

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SOME OTHER POSTS TO EXPLORE:

(Click on each of the post titles below and see where it takes you…)

• BRIDGING THE CONGRUENCE GAP
• IN GIVING WE TRUST
• SHAPING IS BUILT ON ACCEPTANCE

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Thanks for your visit.  I’d appreciate it if you would drop a note or comment below and tell me your thoughts.