By gently welcoming the children we once were, we become wiser, stronger, and more spiritual.

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By gently welcoming the

By gently welcoming the children we once were, we become wiser, stronger, and more spiritual.- - Within every man there is the reflection of a woman, and within every woman there is the reflection of a man. Within every man and woman there is also the reflection of an old man and an old woman, a little boy and a little girl. - Hyemeyohsts Storm - - This Cheyenne teaching reminds us of our connections - inside ourselves and with other people. Reading this passage, we are seeing it partly with the eyes of that small child who first learned to read. And perhaps, looking in the mirror today, we can see the traces of the old men we are becoming. We have been close to our mothers or sisters or lovers and have found parts of ourselves in them. By gently welcoming the children we once were, the old men we will be, the part of us that has a woman's outlook, we become wiser, stronger, and more spiritual. - - We don't need to be frightened or disrespectful of the parts of ourselves that don't feel 100 percent virile. We can have virility and many other sides too. Such awareness creates peace with ourselves. -- I will notice the reflection of small children in old faces, old people in children's faces, and men and women in each other. From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men ©1986, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation.