YEARS AGO, I FELL IN LOVE with a person I thought was my soul mate. We felt deeply for one another, yet we didn’t know how to make our relationship work. We would break up and make up, again and again. Sometimes he’d meet another woman, date her, and after some time end their relationship. Then he’d come back to me, hoping to pick up where we’d left off. Guess what I did? I waited for his return, over and over, until one day, he never came back.
This breakup was bound to happen sooner or later. You see, I didn’t know myself enough—my inherent value. I didn’t know how to set clear emotional boundaries.
Many years, the four divine abodes: (loving-kindness), (compassion), (sympathetic joy), and (equanimity). Practicing with these four states of mind helped me learn to navigate relationships, and I was able to see the light after years of pain. The brahmaviharas have become my dwelling place, where I feel at peace and whole.
