I was talking to a patient of mine while she was performing some of her home exercises for me to evaluate and she mentioned that her children were concerned that she doesn’t spend enough time with other people. Her response to them-and then to me-was memorable. She said, “I love me. I love spending time with myself.”

Her response made me smile. I asked her how she learned to love herself and she said, “by spending lots of time with myself”. The answers are often stated so simply, but much more challenging to execute. It can be daunting to explore the corners of your heart and mind that you have tried to keep hidden for so long, but there is freedom in revealing who you are, in a safe environment.

I often conceptualize life in my mother role to find clarity. I would hate for my daughter to think there is some part of her that is unloveable or too dark to share. When we bring light to a situation, we often realize that our darkness was really just a shadow from the hiding place we stuffed it in.

If you don’t have a safe place to share your heart with another human in your life (or really, even if you do), know that God is always ready to remove the shadow of darkness over your and allow Jesus be the light your heart needs.