The Greatest Gift

July 2010, I met a dear friend of mine at the botanical gardens.  I had just returned from my pilgrimage to Israel.  We spent the day talking about life and taking in the beauty of nature.  We watched the birds, bees and butterflies fly around, the people pass and couples take wedding pictures. I fell in love with the grounds as I felt so serine and peaceful.

My friend and I made a promise that at the age of thirty we would throw ourselves a joint birthday party for our thirtieth birthdays if we both remained unmarried as our date of birth are close together.

As my thirtieth birthday is around the corner, my friend and I both remain unmarried and we failed to fulfill our pact of having a birthday party at the gardens.  I deliberately neglected to remind her of our pact as I realized that I am already married and have always been married to myself.

I sit here today renewing my wedding vows as I do everyday.  I promise to cultivate compassion towards myself, promise to honor, respect and protect myself.  Most importantly I promise to love myself unconditionally and loving oneself unconditionally is the greatest gift of all.