Each one of us is a unique and sacred expression of Life… more varied and complex than a handful of snowflakes and just as whole, pure, and perfect. Unfortunately most of us have lost our sense of divine individuality. We have buried our distinctiveness and shoved aside what feels true and right for us, in lieu of maintaining the heresies that others have told us about who we are and who we should be. If you’re reading this article it’s because you’re ready to reclaim your truth, your authenticity, and your audacity.
Spiritual truth arises as a feeling. Feelings are truth tellers; they are your emotions, intuitions, gut feelings, prickly sensations on the back of your neck. Knowing that you are not living and being authentic to your dreams, desires and intuitions is acknowledging the truth that wants to express Itself through you. Whether you do something about it or not, will depend on how courageous you are in embracing an unknown way of being and living.
The biggest block to being authentic is thinking about who you “should be” or what you “should be doing” rather than who you are or what you are doing presently. “Should be” takes our attention away from fully experiencing the present moment, to a cultural mind-made fantasy of how we think life should be.
For example, many men and women today are struggling with weight and body image issues. Daily, men and women, as they are walking past mirrors and store windows, are consciously and unconsciously comparing how they look to how they think they should look. “I shouldn’t be this heavy,” or “I should have my nose fixed,” or “I hate my hair.” Thinking about how we should be rather than how we are, feels like stress, inadequacy, resignation, sadness, frustration, depression. Our feelings are telling us that our thoughts about ourselves are wrong, not that there is something inherently wrong with us.
There was a time when a bodacious woman was the standard of beauty (Jane Russell) and a man with a round belly was considered full of joy (Santa Claus). Societal norms of beauty and morality are always in flux. It is insane and often times painful to try and please a society that is fickle and moody. If we are to learn anything from the continual shift in societal norms it is to look within our own hearts and minds for truth, balance, and standards of beauty.
The only way to create true health, happiness and wellbeing is by thinking positively and feeling compassionately towards yourself “I am a beautiful expression of Life,” or “I am grateful for the life that lives through me, for the heart that beats within me and for the spirit that sustains me.” A positive attitude will do more for you than anything you put in your mouth.
Your mindfulness homework for this month is to reclaim your sense of joy and life’s purpose by denouncing the phrases, I should and I should be, (you will be amazed how often you use say them). Instead say YES! Say yes to life, say yes to who you are now, and especially say yes to the of experience spiritual truth and self-healing. Just say yes and reclaim the sacred beauty of the present moment, say yes and reclaim your truth!
Namaste
Photo Credit: Austin Neill