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Spirituality
Spirituality
is living what we already know. It is
creating the life we are meant to live and
honoring what we came here to do. It is
staying present to what is happening right
now in this very moment. It is allowing the
uniqueness that is you to emerge. It is the
place where the shoulds, can’ts, and beating
ourselves up for something we did or did not
do gives way to inquiry. It is the place
where the struggle falls away and our power
returns. It is connecting with the source
inside of us that already knows the answers
to the questions of who we are and what we
came here to do. Part of our journey is in
accepting our own unique individuality and
having the courage to live that truth.
Courage does not mean we have no fear. It
means acting in spite of it. Our thoughts
and actions either support our living
authentically or support our fear and ego.
The Ego
The ego is not an ally of spirituality. The
ego is a diversion that keeps us confused,
stressed and distracted from our happiness
and purpose. It can show up in many
disguises. The most popular is mind chatter.
Mind chatter is a negative expert that is
constantly diverting our attention from the
moment and from our power. The goal of the
ego is to keep us vested in believing that
the mind chatter actually means something
while it distracts us from living our truth.
If we listen to and believe the mind
chatter, we may be investing our time and
energy on trying to solve problems that the
ego has created as a distraction from our
unfolding journey to richness.
A Friend of the Ego: Perfection
If we are living our authentic lives, we are
not focused on perfection, judging, approval
or validation. Many of us strive to be
perfect, expecting love in return.
Perfection takes us out of our real selves
and puts us into an ego state. We can never
achieve perfection as there will always be
more to make perfect. There is no place in
soulful living for ‘trying’ to be perfect.
‘Trying’ is a repetitive circular energy
that goes nowhere burning up our life force.
There is no end to ‘trying’. If our energy
is focused on ‘trying’ to be perfect rather
than living, we miss the moment, the
moments, the days, the years. It is our
choice to either ‘try’ to be perfect or to
be real.
A Friend of the Ego: Judgment
Judgment is one of the ego’s tools that
creates distance. We tend to judge others
when we do not understand their thoughts,
feelings or life experiences. We can also
judge others when we have an agenda for them
that we have created from the
‘want-to-be-ruler-of-the universe’ that
resides inside our heads. We may judge
others when they do not fulfill our
expectations. We may unconsciously believe
that it is somehow their duty to fulfill our
unmet needs or make us feel better about
ourselves. We can choose to allow others to
be who they are, or we can judge who they
are not in relation to meeting our needs. If
we are in judgment of another, we are
missing the moment of what we might learn
from this person, interaction or situation.
Where there is judgment, there is difficulty
connecting with one another. Judgment
separates us while compassion and
understanding bring us closer.
A Friend of the Ego: Approval and
Validation
Approval and validation are also friends of
the ego. If we are other-seeking in order to
believe that we are loveable, worthy,
deserving, smart enough, thin enough, a good
person, and so on, our focus will be on
‘trying’ to get it from others. Seeking
approval and validation is another energy
loop that drains us of our resources,
keeping us in an ego state. When we make
other people’s opinions of ourselves more
important than our own, we give them our
power. One of the solutions to this never
ending cycle is in learning how to love
ourselves so that seeking the approval or
validation of others is not necessary.
Ping Pong vs Clarity
While perfection, judgment, validation and
approval-seeking are just a few ways the ego
can distract us from our real self, there
are many others. While our egos are playing
ping pong inside our heads in mind chatter,
our bodies take the hit in tension, stress,
worry and anxiety. Our bodies are a great
barometer that signal us as to whether we
are living in a state of grace or in an ego
state. If we are having a hard time making a
decision, we may be listening to our mind
chatter rather than our gut or heart. When
we listen to our gut or our heart, the mind
chatter falls away, our bodies relax, and we
know what to do with ease and grace.
Living Authentically
We get to choose if we are here to ‘try’ and
meet standards that we have created inside
our heads based on society, religion or
experience, or to live the lives we were
born to live. If we look at people that have
made great contributions throughout history,
we see that they are pioneers in bringing
something different into consciousness. They
bring new awareness to us as they step out
of their own box, making a contribution to
humanity. We see trailblazers and risk
takers that did not always fit in. It is ok
to be who we came here to be. By being our
real selves, we give others permission to do
the same.
Centering
Finding the centering Stillpoint inside you
can bring answers, clarity and resolution to
your questions. We can use our breath to
quiet our busy minds, slow it down and
create some room inside of us so we can be
available to receive answers from inside of
our center. It is in the silence within our
center where the answers lie to living our
best life in harmony with truth.
Spiritual Living
Spiritual living is about inquiry and
understanding from a deeper perspective. It
is about what is going on in each moment
rather than seeing an experience through an
old filter. It is about being mindful of our
feelings within ourselves, of gratitude,
compassion and allowing, even when we do not
want to. It is about letting go of the ego’s
power struggle, giving way to surrender. It
is understanding experiences as
opportunities to learn spiritual lessons. It
is about blessing the messenger for bringing
the challenge so we can grow. It is Source
in action. It is grace dancing. It is about
taking right action in alignment with our
soul.
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