Yes, your pride gets hurt. Yes, there is ego. And, yes, there is outer devaluation. Yet it is not truly the outside world that tears you down. It is your own disbelief in your worth. It is your own ego that rubs itself on the washboard of life. It seems a bigger matter to you than that, and yet it comes down to that. It is your dependence upon the perceptions of the world as well that allows you to be buoyed by its approbation or downhearted by it’s lack of regard. Better to not depend so much on the behavior of the world.

It is possible for littleness in the world to dissolve the bonds of ego and yet not rub you raw. You have been bonded to ideas of how the world should regard you and treat you, and you are not always given your due. I am sorry. Once is too often for you to be devalued. And yet the world does not always treat you fairly, not even politely, even when, all the while, it is your due to be treated royally.

Give yourself your due, beloveds. Be unbounded. No matter how true your ideas may be, they are binding. Ideas bind you to others’ pictures of yourself. They bind you to past pictures of yourself. Yet you are not to be attached to some of your ideas, for then you are attached to ego. Let go of the importance of your ideas, and you will not be so affected by the projections of the world and those in it. I have determined your worth. Your worth has already been set. It does not have to be proved. Look not for proof, for that puts your attention on proof. Be not bound to evidence. Be not bound to need.

Be not bound. I extol you to love, beloveds, and yet I will also extol you to rise above your human requirements to be loved and respected. Your craving for love and respect trips you up, beloveds. I do not doubt your worth. You doubt your worth. Let not your sense of worth be dependent upon the whims of the world, including the proximate world of those around you.

Let Us, you and I, build a stronger bond, and let bonds to expectations dissolve. You are becoming a citizen of the Universe, and now you can stand tall on a mountain and rise above hurt feelings and any perceived devaluation of yourself.

Beloveds, you can swim in a pond and get caught up in the ripples of the pond. You can swim in the Vast Ocean and get caught in the waves of the Ocean. Or you can just swim. Since when are the waves of the Ocean more important than the Ocean Itself?

Must it matter so much what the other swimmers in the Ocean are doing?

Simply remind yourself that you are swimming in the Ocean. As you continue to swim, you also become immersed in the awareness that you are the Ocean itself.

Waves do not disturb the Ocean. The Ocean knows the waves are Its Own. The waves are like the wings of the Ocean, or like the oars of a Great Canoe idling down the Mississippi.

Come to Me, beloveds, rain or shine. Come to Me when the world raises you high on its shoulders, and come to Me when the world has crumpled you up. Come to Me to find the evenness of yourself. I am your worth. Have Me.