Tag Archives: Release Fear

AWAKENING TO NEW LIFE

“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness.  How do you know this is the experience you need?  Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.”  Eckhart Tolle

 Flowers 033

Is the urge to grow part of your life?  Are you willing to encounter what is unpleasant in order to make changes that will improve life?  How does positive thinking enhance your life?

Finally, spring is here with a few warmer days, blooming flowers and heavy pollen.  My front stairs and deck have been covered with the yellow pollen of the oak trees in my yard.  Every few days, a new flower blooms and adds color to the yard.  Because I’m not a very good gardener and I’ve left the yard as it was when I moved into the house, I often forget exactly what is there. As a result, spring becomes a delightful series of surprises.

Spring Awakens New Life

Spring is the constant unfolding of new life.  It’s dynamic and color drags us out of the winter doldrums and reminds us of all that has been lying fallow beneath the snow.  The reality is that although nature is tied to this cycle we are not.  We can awaken to new life at any moment, any day.  When we are open to new ideas and experiences, we create a spring with our lives and new things blossom.

What do we feel in spring?  New energy, excitement, freedom, and hope.  Life that has been restricted indoors moves outdoors where there is more space, more stimulation, and more possibilities.

Spring of Life, 2006

Spring of Life, 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Let Go of the Negative and Welcome the Positive

So how can we create these positive and uplifting feelings in our own lives?  We can let go of those things that no longer serve us:  resentment, fear, lack of worth, and attachment to the past or attitudes that keep us from moving forward.

I often write about letting go of fear, but what do we do once we have released it?  Releasing fear creates a space where all things are possible.  We ask for guidance and it will come to us if we are listening carefully to our inner selves.  Of course, sometimes, what we need manifests in the physical world right in front of us.  Are we willing to open ourselves enough to experience the unfamiliar?

To do that, we have to either take a positive view assuming that it will be an improvement in our lives or at least a neutral attitude that allows us to explore the possibility.  There are no guarantees that everything that comes our way will be good, but if we choose to live with a positive attitude, that there may be some good in whatever shows up, we are more likely to experience good.

Find What Is Good in Each Experience

Living with the attitude that life is basically good is rather like experiencing spring or summer year round.  We can live like this when we are willing to focus on what is positive in each experience we have.  Any change we make requires an adjustment and this may seem uncomfortable, but if we aren’t willing to experience some discomfort, we may never move ahead.

For example, when we begin a new relationship, there may be conflicts.  We may feel the other person wants too much of our time or doesn’t want to see us often enough.  Our partner may reflect qualities of the last partner with whom we had a failed relationship, or we may project qualities of that person or a parent onto the new partner.  We may not like the same movies or food.  But we have a choice every time the conflict arises.  We can choose to assume for the moment that this is an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and the other person, and if we can thoughtfully engage in a conversation and try to understand why the issue is a problem, we may be able to create a positive and meaningful relationship.

Let the Light Inside Grow

In the spring, the light and longer days are inspiring as well as the new growth of nature.  The sunlight gives us the Vitamin D we need to feel good, and it makes it possible for us to enjoy more time out of doors gardening, hiking, or playing.  So, it is also worthwhile for us to look for the light inside us.  What are our positive qualities?  When new possibilities appear, do we think we are worthy of a better life, job, or relationship?  Is the light within us a match to this new opportunity?

Loving Ourselves Brings Spiritual Growth

We can choose this moment to nurture and love who we are, to expand the light within and to allow the best of us to blossom.  If we are to grow, it is so important that we are willing to try new things and take risks.  When these things turn out well, we feel better about ourselves, but it is critical that when we take the risk and it doesn’t turn out well, that we applaud ourselves for having the courage to try.  That is a positive thing too.  Applauding ourselves increases the light.

As Tolle points out, each experience we have is an experience we need to have to grow.  We need to value each one, even the unpleasant ones, for this life is our spring.  We are here to learn and grow and expand our energy, and move into the light.  How do you bring the light into your life?  Please comment.

© 2013 Georganne Spruce                                                                      ZQT4PQ5ZN7F5

Related Articles: Dont’s Miss this video:  Eckhart Tolle: Shifting from Negative to Positive EnergyIt’s Time To Wake Up,  Are You Ready to Awaken,  

RELEASING OUR FEAR TO AWAKEN

“Love is what we were born with.  Fear is what we learned here.”  Marianne Williamson

Big River 001

How often do you avoid doing something you need to do because of fear?  How often do you feel fearful?  How do you let go of fear in order to move forward?

We Are Divine Beings With Worth

When we awaken in the morning, the rest of our lives are before us, and the decisions we make each day determine the quality of that life and how we will experience it.  We were born in love, a divine being with worth, but often the living of this life takes its toll.  If our childhood was filled with love and we had nurturing parents, we have the best chance to create that kind of adult life for ourselves.  However, if our childhood was filled with conflict or abuse, we had to learn coping mechanisms for survival, and while they may have helped us survive, they may have caused us to shut down parts of ourselves.

Fear Blocks Our Spiritual Awakening

The process of awakening is never ending.  In Oneness, awakening is described as “ascension” but one never arrives at a destination; one always continues growing.  In this earthly life, the one thing that limits our awakening more than any other is psychological fear.  It is the source of all dysfunctional behavior and every fear we experience is either a fear of rejection or a fear of inadequacy.  Our response to the problems that stimulate these fears is blocked by the fear unless we release it.

The fear that causes us to fight or flee when we are physically threatened is a different kind of fear; it is natural fear and one that we want to respect.  It causes the adrenaline to flow when we need the strength to out run a physical threat.  It causes that chill down the back or the intuitive knowing when harm is near, and it directs our mind to avoid the threat.

Thoughts Full of Fear Do Not Support Our Best

Psychological fears are different.  They may prevent us from pursuing the profession that is our passion or cause us to settle for less than what we need in relationships.  We may have internalized negative ideas about ourselves from an unloving childhood or from failures in our lives and feel that we are not worthy of happiness.  How we experience life depends so much on how we think, and if our thoughts are often filled with fear, our thoughts will not support the best in us.

We Must Embrace the Pain Of Growth

Our society has taught us to deal with pain by taking some kind of painkiller:  pills, drugs, sex, food, anything to stop the pain without having to go deeper to look at the emotional source of the distress because going deeper would be painful.  Marianne Williamson says, “It takes courage…to endure the sharp pains of self-discovery rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives.”

We need to shift our thinking to understand that sometimes pain is good, especially when it raises our consciousness.  Recently, a part of my foot started hurting like the beginning of plantar fasciitis, which I previously had for several years.   It was a signal that my foot wasn’t supported properly.  I visited the podiatrist and discovered that the orthotics I wear in my shoes needed more support in a certain area.  Emotional pain is also a warning—something is wrong and needs to be fixed or the pain will increase.

The method of releasing fear that I teach clears the mind of the block created by fear so that the mind can pull through information that will help us solve the problem that created the fear to begin with.  First, we direct the mind to release the fear and allow it to leave.  With the fear gone, we can access memory, past lives, spiritual, and psychic areas of the mind where there is information that will help us solve the current problem.

Trust That the Mind Free of Fear Will Serve Us

When we ask Source or Spirit for the answer, we have to believe we will receive it.  The problem is that it may not come when we expect it or look like we wanted it to.  Abundance is a good example in my life.  It appears in the form of money gifts, service exchanges, love, friendship, sharing information, free classes on a skill I need to learn, and work for which I’m paid.  The abundance in my life appears in a multitude of forms.

Beaver Lake 5-07 024

How does this happen?  Because I believe that I will receive whatever I need when I need it and am ready to receive it.  The best way to attract abundance is to feel abundant and be grateful for every little good thing that happens.  Most of all, I no longer fear not having enough.  Having released that fear provides an unobstructed channel of energy through which good things can come to me.

The Awakening Path Is Endless

Marianne Williamson points out that it takes courage to face the pain of discovery.  We also have to release the fear that going into our muck won’t make things better.  We were created in love and to love we must return.  Love is what we are at our core, but “fear is what we learned here.”  What we have learned, we can unlearn when it does not serve us.  The reality of awakening is that we do outgrow certain ideas or circumstances in our lives.  We have to be willing to move on when the time comes.  The path of ascension is always there.  How quickly we awaken is our choice.

Please share your experience with fear and awakening.

 My next “Release Your Fear” workshop is Saturday, April 27, 10:00 am to 12:00 at Jubilee Community, 46 Wall St., Asheville, NC, $15 at the door.  If you want more information, see this link or email me at lifedancer33@charter.net.

© 2013 Georganne Spruce                                                            ZQT4PQ5ZN7F5

Related Articles:  What is Spiritual Awakening, The Mind-Body Connection: Fear Manifests in Many Diseases Fear: Your Worst Enemy

AWAKENING TO SPREAD GRATITUDE

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”  William Arthur Ward

What are you grateful for this week?  Have you expressed your gratitude to those who have been generous to you?

Accepting Transformation

It is fall again and the sound of acorns falling from the oaks onto my roof is an on-going percussive song.  There are plenty this year, and the squirrels will become so fat they’ll look like the little stuffed animals at the nature store.  The dogwoods and maples are already turning hot pink, red and yellow, foreshadowing the blaze of color that will blanket the mountains in a few weeks.

This is my favorite time of year.  The air cools to the perfect temperature for hiking and art walks.  I begin turning inward preparing for the transformation into winter.  Much is changing in my life and I am so grateful.  The “Releasing Your Fear” workshops that I do are expanding and I now have two more scheduled.  I have posted more information on my workshops page.

Receiving Gratitude Is A Gift

I had a booth at a networking fair last weekend at Crystal Visions and had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people who are light workers and artists.  They raffled off one of my books, and the woman who received it emailed me to say how grateful she was.  She knew receiving it was in Divine Order and she looked forward to what she would learn from it.

Grateful—that is the word that comes to mind today.  I am so grateful that I am at last doing the work I really want to do and that my gifts are helping others.  After spending years working to release my fears and through that process freeing myself to believe what I have to teach will help people, I am now able to facilitate this growth in others.  As I hear the individual stories of the way this work is benefitting those who attend the workshops, I am reminded about why this is so important.  It can remarkably change our individual lives, but it can do more than that.

Releasing Our Fear to Empower Others

It is impossible to ignore the political crisis in this country.  The real crisis is not really the economy.  It is the inability of our leaders to work together because they are afraid that they will give the other side an advantage.  It is their fear of losing their power that undermines their ability to solve the country’s problems in wise and equitable ways.  Because this fear is so dominant in their minds, it blocks their ability to think clearly and act in the best interest of all.

So, the energy we put out into the world can change this.  The more we can release our fears, the more we can experience love and joy and think clearly to find reasonable solutions to our problems.  We need to look around us and support what is good and working well and the people who are making that happen.  Tell them how much you appreciate them.

The Power of Gratitude to Uplift

Among the many things for which I am grateful this week is a letter I received from someone I’ve known for years and who is aware of my workshops, writing and the other work I do within the community of which we are both a part.  Although we have always respected each other, I had no idea that he appreciated the way I think, that he thought my comments in a particular setting were “rich and fertile.”   What a wonderful gift this letter was!

So I encourage you to do what my friend did.  For whom are you grateful?  Write that letter and lay it out in clear language.  Let someone in your life know what you value about them today.  It could transform their life.  It will certainly transform their day.

© 2012 Georganne Spruce                                                     ZQT4PQ5ZN7F5

  Related articles:   Managing Your Fears – Eckhart Tolle Video

DANCING TO YOUR OWN CREATION

“Mind is like the wood or stone from which a person carves an image.  If he carves a tiger or dragon, and seeing it fears it, he is like a stupid person creating a picture of hell and then afraid to face it.  If he does not fear it, then his unnecessary thoughts will vanish.  Part of the mind produces sight, sound, taste, odor and sensibility, and from them raises greed, anger and ignorance with all their accompanying likes and dislikes.”  Bodhidharma

 

Responding to Change

How much responsibility are you willing to take for what happens in your life?  Are you creating your life or do you always defer to the ones around you?  What guides your choices?

This has been a very wet year where I live, and I am grateful I don’t live in the drought-ridden part of the country.  As a result of the dampness, a large number of large mushrooms have sprung up in my front yard which is very shady most of the day.  One of them was huge, eight inches across, and several others of two varieties were almost as large.  I’d never seen these before and had no idea if either the squirrels or I could eat them, but I don’t know mushrooms, so I thought it wiser to just admire them.  The squirrels weren’t interested either.

The appearance of the mushrooms, which I think are lovely in their own way, is just one example of how conditions to which we are accustomed may change and surprise us with their uniqueness or beauty.  But change can also be disconcerting, and how we experience it depends on what we think about the change.  We create our perception of what is occurring.  Instead of being afraid that poisonous mushrooms were appearing in my yard, I chose to appreciate their beauty and the opportunity to learn about something new.

Being in Charge of Your Own Thoughts

So many things influence how we think:  our social environment, religious or spiritual beliefs, family or cultural codes of behavior, and past experience.  In some way, we have all been programmed that certain things are good and others are bad.  But as we become adults, we have the opportunity to reprogram our minds.  We can make the decision to be the one who is in charge.

In order to truly be in charge of our lives, we must choose to be in charge of our thinking, for our thinking creates our emotions and together they determine what we create.  The quote from Bohdidharma makes this very clear.  You create what is in your mind and have a choice to hold on to that thought or to release it.  The question you must answer is:  What is the best for you or others affected by your decision?

Release the Resistance Fear Creates

Often we feel fear in our response to something new in our lives.  Will that new boss value the work we do?  Will a parent’s death destroy the family togetherness?  Will marriage take away our independence or bring us more love?  It is always best to release the psychological fears we have before we make a decision.  Fear creates resistance and blocks our ability to see what is best for us.

So, when that tiger or dragon first appears in our thoughts, we need to center ourselves, find that place of quiet in our hearts, and say to our minds, “Release this fear.”  Name it if you can, breathe deeply, and let it go.  These psychological fears have no value for us.  Repeat this gently until the negative image you have created releases.  It is yours to reject.  Then, in the quiet, ask Spirit or the Universe to fill your need and be willing to wait, knowing that what you need will appear, if not then, later when the time is right.

Releasing Your Fear Workshop

This process for releasing fear is what I teach each year in a workshop, “Releasing Your Fear.”  In the workshop, we delve more deeply into the mind and how it works and how to practice this technique so that it is truly useful to you.  If you want to learn more about the September 9 workshop, click here.

Creating Your Joyful Dance of Life

Dancing to our own creation means that we choose to be the choreographer of our dance of life.  We can choose the steps we like best, improvise until the right phrase appears, and practice what flows best until the dance that truly brings us joy appears out of our own creative mental process.  It is not some creator out there who is in charge of our dance, we are.

When we get stuck, instead of creating tigers and dragons, we can envision the positive outcome we want and take the steps to go there.  If one step doesn’t work, we can try another, and eventually the right one shows up. We only have to have the courage to release our fear of what is new, unfamiliar and unknown, focus on what we truly want, and believe we are capable of creating it.

© 2012 Georganne Spruce                                                            ZQT4PQ5ZN7F5

Related Articles: The Answers Are WithinLaw of Attraction Journals, Abraham: Accept What I’m Feeling (video), Abraham Hicks: Thoughts (video)

 

AWAKENING TO A CLEAR PLACE

“The more you have, the more you are occupied.  The less you have, the more free you are.”  Mother Theresa

Do you always do your spring cleaning?  Is your life cluttered to the point that you feel it controls you rather than you controlling it?  How much are you willing to simplify?

I just finished reading Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild.  It is the story of her trek along the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert to Portland, Oregon, traveling with only the pack she could barely carry on her back.  While the book touched me in many ways, her journey, living months with only what she could carry, particularly resonated with me.

Letting Go of the Old

Since spring, I have had an overwhelming desire to clean out the clutter in my life—not just the physical stuff, but activities I no longer enjoy as well.  I had to skip my usual spring cleaning this year because writing my book was so intense and time-consuming that I had time for nothing else.  Now at the end of summer, it has become almost an obsession to get the cleaning out done.

When I feel energy pressing against me in this way, I know it’s a signal that I need to pay attention and take the step it is pushing me toward.  There is something good around the corner that I must make room for.  I must clear out the old and make room for what is to come.

The irony is that my house is not cluttered.  I have a lot of books in bookcases with paintings and stones placed around, but they are all arranged neatly and not excessive in number.  Even my closets are neatly arranged, but I have a large number of files containing information on the past that I no longer need.  So why am I having such a difficult time letting go of this?

Letting Go Creates Fear

Letting go creates a vacuum and that often feels uncomfortable.  It may feel like a loss and remind us of painful losses we’ve experienced, and we may feel fearful about what will replace the stuff, or friend, or activity we have released.  So, part of letting go of the clutter, in our houses or our minds, is letting go of the fear that we will need it, or not find a friend or activity that is more beneficial to replace it.  My fear almost always is the same—I’m afraid I might need it again.

Clearing Clutter Allows Us To Grow Spiritually

H. G. Chissel, a feng shui practitioner, says, “Clutter is a physical manifestation of fear that cripples our ability to grow.”  We can’t grow when we’re stuck and attached to the past.  What we need now in our lives may be very different than what we needed five or ten years ago.

Why do I find it so difficult to let go of the medical files from the years when I had chronic fatigue?  When I explored this, I discovered that I was afraid I might have a relapse, that the new doctor might need these files.  But this is irrational because I’ve been free of the condition for over ten years.  I know what caused it and what cured it.  I live a life based on that knowledge and am very healthy.

We draw to us what we focus on, so the best way to insure that I don’t need those files is to let go of them, to affirm that I know I am healthy and know I will not be ill again because I have changed the circumstances that created the illness in the first place.  Hanging on to old ideas like this only keeps us attached to it, and, as Chissell said, “cripples our ability to grow.”  Just as Cheryl Strayed had to let go of emotional as well as physical burdens on her journey, I have had to do that in my life and chronicled that spiritual journey in my book Awakening to the Dance: A Journey to Wholeness.  The more I have been willing to let go of what no longer serves me, even if letting go is painful, the more I am freed to find what truly serves me.

Creating A Place For What We Need Now

When I envision having cleaned out all the extra stuff in my files, I feel weightless and excited because I feel free.  I am surrounded by light and am joyful.  There is now space in my life for new activities, new friends, contemplation, and new stories to write.  This space I have cleared makes room in my life for what I need now.  It is a transition from the old to the new, and I am excited about the new things that will come into my life because I trust that what I need will come to me.

What have you let go of lately that was difficult to release?

© 2012 Georganne Spruce                                                                ZQT4PQ5ZN7F5

Related Articles:   Clear Your Space Inside and Out5 Items to Remove From Your Life Right Now

AWAKENING TO VENUS

“Venus favors the bold.”  Ovid

English: 2004.06.08 Venus Transit, Celestron 8...

English: 2004.06.08 Venus Transit, Celestron 8″ Catadioptric Telescope (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Compared to the sun, Venus is only a dot, and as I watched her move across the sun yesterday, I thought her rather bold and a rather wonderful symbol for us all. Life often looms large, like the sun, blinding us with its powerful brilliance and overwhelming what we feel are our small contributions to life.  And yet if each of us stood still, afraid to venture into the unknown or the known that seems too much for us, where would we be? Slowly and surely, one mile at a time, Venus progressed across the face of the sun, which is 113 times larger than she.  It took about seven hours for her to make the transit.  Not completing the journey is not an option.  She just does it.

Finding the Spiritual Courage to Fulfill Dreams

How many times have we dreamed a dream and hesitated or abandoned it because of fear—the fear that it was too difficult, that it would take too long, that it would cost too much, that it would require too much sacrifice.  But the price of walking away from our dreams is huge.  I have had dreams for which I worked for years.  I succeeded in becoming a modern dancer dancing with a company, but I could never make the other dream manifest—that of having a career as a dance teacher in a college where I could teach and earn a livable wage. Even though I didn’t get exactly what I wanted, I have no regrets and feel good about my attempts. In the last year and a half, I have felt a little like Venus trying to make her way through this huge project of writing and publishing a book.  As it turned out, the publishing part has been much more challenging than I could have imagined, and if I had had any idea how difficult it would be, I probably would never have started.  But the secret is this—I simply took it one step at a time and trusted that what I needed next would show up.  And it has.

Living With the Natural Flow

Most of life lives in trust with nature, moving through the natural cycles without questioning the process.  Only we humans use our minds to separate us from the natural rhythms that can support and assist us.  Trusting in nature or Spirit or ourselves allows us to also release the fear that often blocks our progress.  It puts us in the flow where all answers reside.

Venus Supports the Changes We Need

I taught Greek mythology for years and always made a point of relating the myths and the characters to real life.  Venus or the Greek Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love.  She represents beauty, truth, harmony, love, and creativity.  To see her as a sex goddess is to deny her real essence.  As a planet, she is the only feminine one.  In her bold move across the sun, she is calling to our attention all that she represents.  It is a time for the feminine to become more influential in our world, time for us to seek harmony rather than winning, time to be creative in solving our personal and world problems, time for us to learn to love those who are different, and time for us to demand a more transparent government to support truth.

Being Bold Enough to Change

The astrological influences of this transit are also interesting.  If you want to know more about those, I recommend Belinda Dunn’s website, astrodelight.com and her Celestial Currents for May.  She, too, affirms that we are in a significant time of change.  It is time to pursue our dreams, and the irony is this:  when what we know falls apart, it’s time to change.  In my community, I am awed by the number of people who are creating small businesses when the economy is so precarious.  They are boldly reevaluating their lives, examining their true talents, and using those talents to create a new life that feeds their souls as well as their finances. Our journeys are often not as peaceful and straightforward as Venus’ Transit.  But that is her journey.  We each have to follow our own. One of these days, I’ll actually have that paperback book available for sale.  When it’s done; when the time is right; when it’s in Divine Order. In the meantime, I want to remember that Venus teaches us to value harmony, and I’ll try to stay in harmony with myself, others, and the planet—boldly, of course.

What thoughts or feelings has the Venus Transit brought up for you?

© 2012 Georganne Spruce

Related Articles:  Venus Transit* Astrology and Symbolism, June 5-June 6, 2012: The Return of the FeminineThe Meaning of the Venus Transit in 2012

AWAKENING TO THE HEALING DANCE: RELEASING THE PAIN, PART 3

“There is no coming to consciousness without pain.  People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul.  One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”  Carl Jung

How willing are you to be aware of your emotional pain?  Do you use pleasant experiences or material things to make you feel better or deaden the pain?  Do you have the courage to face and heal the deeper truth?

In the first blog of this series, I wrote about how our wounds often lead us to see what needs to be healed in our lives.  Although we see them as part of our emotional darkness, they are gifts.  In the second part of the series, I pointed out that we all need love in our lives and that it may come from many sources if we are open to seeing it.  Today, I want to write about the importance of letting go of our attachment to the pain we experience.

Fear of Letting go of Pain

Years ago, after a painful divorce, I began seeing a therapist to help me deal with the deep betrayal of my husband.  At the time, I was teaching modern dance and dancing with a company and choreographing.  As the therapy progressed, I began to feel better about myself and spent less time overwhelmed by negative emotions, but one day I became very upset during a session.

“Sometimes I’m afraid that getting ‘well’ will destroy my creativity. It’s changing something in me, and I don’t feel I need to create so much. I feel like I’m losing my creative edge.”

“How is it doing that?” my therapist asked.

“Because it’s the inner turmoil that makes me want to create. If I get well, I’ll have no reason to create!”

“What if being healthy makes you more creative?”

I only shrugged, but as I thought about this, I was unable to imagine how that could be so.

(Excerpted from Awakening to the Dance: A Journey to Wholeness)

Why We Won’t Let Go

We all have belief systems that keep us trapped in unhealthy places.  That’s why many people refuse to get help for their problems.  They’re afraid to discover what lies in their darkness or are so insecure that they cannot handle the idea that they have done something wrong or are not all right.  My mother is a good example.  She could not let go of the idea that she wasn’t a good Christian if she loved herself.  Her entire sense of worth was based on what she did for others.  She was a loving person in many ways, but very unhappy and took care of herself only so she wouldn’t burden others.

Sometimes, though, we take the risk, and in our process of changing, we begin to feel better and hit another layer of fear that limits our consciousness.  We may cling to our negative feelings simply because they are so familiar, just as we cling to negative relationships because they are known and nothing scares us like the unknown. Letting go of these attachments is often a big step.

Becoming Conscious of Our Shadow

Fortunately, though, after my divorce, I liked feeling better more than being in pain and decided that my ideas for dances could come from many sources, even the past negative feelings, for I could remember them, even if I no longer felt them.  I filed them away as I would any reference material and took responsibility for making myself happier.

Through therapy and through reading and attending workshops as a member of the Carl Jung Society in New Orleans for ten years, I learned to understand my difficulties and how to resolve them.  I learned about the value of what Jung calls, “the Shadow.”  It is that dark part of ourselves that we don’t want to see, but the less conscious we are of it, the more it harms us.  Becoming enlightened or conscious requires that we examine and heal it, for when we become conscious of the thoughts or experiences that have caused our pain, we can heal them, then let go and move on.

All Spiritual Healing Requires the Journey Inward

This spiritual journey inward may seem eccentric to some people who have bought into our materialistic society.  Eventually, the materialism fails to solve the problems.  The drugs that seemed to make us feel better become a destructive addiction.  All of the “cures” for our pain only create an illusion of temporary healing.  The only true healing takes place when we go within, and that is often true of physical, as well as emotional pain.  We have to bring it to the surface, heal it, and let it go.

We can free ourselves only when we become conscious.  No one I’ve read has written more clearly about our pain than Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose in his discussion of the “pain body” and how to heal it.  I highly recommend this book. (See Links I Like at the side bar)

What pain have you healed recently? Please comment.

© 2012 Georganne Spruce

Related Articles:  Eckhart Tolle Releasing the Pain Body (video), Carl Jung’s Concept of the Shadow (related to life), Overcome Your Emotional Roadblocks

AWAKENING TO YOUR TRUE IDENTITY

“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you are not.”  Denis Waitley

How would you describe yourself in one sentence?  Do you define who you are from your deepest core or do you define who you are based on what others think of you?

We are all spiritual beings and that means that we are part of the creative energy, the core DNA of the universe.  Because of this, we are all, at our centers, good, but we are also in this life to learn lessons, and those challenges may lead us to focus on our weaknesses.  Many times we forget who we really are and create stories about ourselves that are judgmental and negative.

Avoid Accepting Another’s Negative Vision of You

The negative stories that can create serious blocks in our development are the ones that come from childhood.  When I was four years old, I had rheumatic fever and developed a heart murmur that I eventually outgrew by age twelve.  During that time, I had many childhood illnesses.  As a result, much of my childhood was spent in bed, not being active.

When I was fifteen, I had a modern dance class at school and saw that, through dance, I could develop the strength I lacked.  I pursued this interest in dance at college, studied professionally, danced in a company and taught.  By the time I was an adult, I was very strong and energetic, but my mother continued to see me as weak.  Throughout my young life, she worried that I would make myself sick and warned me that what I was doing could hurt me.  For years, she was unable to let go of this image of me, and even after I rejected it, it lurked in the dark corners of my mind ready to undermine me.

Don’t Let Limitations Define You

I developed the idea that being tired was the equivalent of getting sick. What held me back in many endeavors was that I didn’t think I was strong enough to put forth the effort required to be successful. Even as an adult, I sometimes stopped short of achieving my goal because I was afraid I wouldn’t succeed.  It took me a long time to push past this and realize it was my mother’s vision of me, created out of her fear, not who I was.

I’ve always been inspired by Laura Hillenbrand who wrote the best-seller Seabiscuit while she had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Not only do I love her book; I admire her courage and strength.  She did not let her limitations define her.

Do you let your limitations, the things you are not, define who you are? Do you think, “I’m a decent, competent person who is out of a job,” or “I’m a loser because I’m out of a job.”? Limitations are only one aspect of life.  Don’t let them define you.  When you define yourself in a positive way, it raises your vibrational energy.  Not only does that make you feel better, it draws more positive people and experiences to you and may decrease the restrictions in your life.

Practice Positive Spiritual Principles

I’m not suggesting that you ignore the things in your life that aren’t working well, but affirming what you want and taking some steps toward making them a reality will move you forward more quickly than focusing on the negative aspect of the situation.  Of course, ideally, we look honestly at the situation, release our ego-attachment to the outcome, and do what we can to correct it.  Affirming with genuinely positive emotion that somehow we will find a solution to the problem adds more positive energy to the mix. However, what we think we need isn’t always what we do need, and the universe is kind enough to correct our delusion.  My spiritual teacher used to say that we will get what we need, but it may not look like what we expected or come at the time we expect.

Manifestation may also be blocked by a contradictory statement.  “I affirm that my illness will be healed in three months, but I accept this may not happen.”  The last part of the statement cancels out the first, so the energy that is created by the positive statement is neutralized by the negative.  Be aware that all statements that begin with but contain fear and fears block manifestation.  It is worthwhile to look beneath your negative statement and ask, “Why do I believe I can’t manifest this?”  If you truly believed you could manifest your desire, you would not need the qualifier.

Believe in Yourself

Believe that you are part of this magnificently creative universe.  Believe that what you manifest is a step forward and that you have succeeded even if it doesn’t exactly meet your expectations.  Believe that as you practice spiritual principles, that you will change your life for the better.  If you are not the person you want to be, know that you are in charge of who you are and commit to accepting what is best about you, knowing that is who you truly are and take action to change what you don’t like, knowing that the universe supports all that is good in you.

What negative ideas about yourself have you discarded lately?

© 2012 Georganne Spruce

Related Articles:  5 Ways to find Your True Identity, Becoming the Person You Were Meant to Be:  Where to Start by Anne Lamott, Total Recall of Who We Are: Stop Thinking and Start Being 

AWAKENING TO LOVE OURSELVES

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”   Buddha

Do you love yourself?  Do you accept your failings and forgive yourself when you don’t live up to the standards you set?  Do you accept who you really are, including your limitations?

Struggling With Not Knowing

I’ll admit it.  I’ve been pretty judgmental about myself lately.  I set higher standards for myself than I do for others and am disappointed when I don’t live up to my expectations.  Lately, as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been learning about social media and online marketing.  Now, after ten years writing my spiritual memoir, I have decided to e-publish it.  In addition, I’ve set up a blog and learned to navigate that technology.  This has been exhilarating and exhausting because computer technology is a huge challenge for me.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed.  Everyday, it seems there are ten new questions I can’t answer.  Even when more savvy people answer my questions, I don’t always understand the answers.  Because of this, my greatest challenge is how inadequate I feel on a daily basis. Even after researching information on the internet, I often have to ask the same question again.

Understanding the Fear Beneath Our Inadequacy

When we feel stressed and inadequate, it is worthwhile to ask, “What is really causing this discomfort.   Frequently, it’s fear.  We are afraid we won’t succeed at this challenge. We’re afraid we won’t do it well enough, or we’re afraid we will disappoint others. When what we are doing becomes too difficult, we may give up and run away. Eliminating this source of discomfort seems like a simple solution.  But is it?

Refusing to face the challenge and solve the problem rarely gives us any lasting satisfaction.  What we really want is not to escape, but to feel capable of solving the problem or to feel all right about not knowing how. At these times, more than any other, we need to remember to accept and love ourselves.

Taking the Time to Love Ourselves

When we feel loved, we feel more capable.  We can do anything.  So perhaps, in these moments of doubt, what we most need to do is love ourselves.  What does that look like?  For me, I think it means accepting my difficulty understanding technology and telling myself it’s all right.  It means letting go of my ego’s need to handle all the challenges by myself.  It means congratulating myself each time I have the self-confidence to admit I don’t know what to do next and am willing ask for help.

We are each precious spiritual beings.  We must accept and love who we are in order to feel peaceful. If we feel inadequate or are self-judging, we need to raise our vibration. One way to do that is to turn inward, quiet ourselves, and release our fears and expectations. Then we may be able to hear that voice within that is so much wiser than ego. Breathing deeply, and with each breath, directing our minds to release the fear, we create a space where peace and new solutions can come through to us.

Doing what we enjoy, such as walking in the forest or by the seashore, eating a really nice meal, visiting with a good friend, or dancing, will also raise our vibration.  Taking our attention away from the fear and stress clears the mind.  Doing the things we enjoy nurtures us at the soul level and is a way of loving ourselves.  If we tend to take better care of others than ourselves, we need to do for ourselves what we do for others.

In the end, we need to accept we are fine the way we are.  Life will continue to offer opportunities to grow and become more of who we are.  When we stop feeling bad about our lack, we will be able to see the good we have done and the courage it took to do it.

What do you like most about yourself and what you’ve learned or done recently?  What lifts your vibration?

Please comment.  If there are topics you would like for me to discuss, please let me know by leaving a comment.  I’d love to respond to your interests.

© 2012 Georganne Spruce

Related Articles: Forgive Yourself-Powerful Self-Help, Accepting Oneself (A Buddhist view), Forgive Yourself (Wayne Dyer)

AWAKENING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN

“Some men (and women) have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can.”  Martha Graham

Are you living the life you desire? What are your reasons for not doing that? Does every day flow peacefully as you easily move from one difficulty to another?  Or do you find your progress stymied by irritating and distracting events and issues?  What changes do you need to make?

Being Spiritually and Emotionally Stuck

Last week, I listened to a friend explain that she had not used the Emotional Freedom Technique I taught her to release negative mental blocks.  She was still thinking and processing the information.  We were in public so I listened politely, but I was surprised.  This was energy work not mental work.  I wanted to say, “It doesn’t matter what you think about it.  If you don’t try it, you’ll never know if it works.”  If thinking hasn’t caused her to become unstuck by this time, it isn’t the solution.

Only action can dig us out of our emotional ruts.  There is no perfect moment.  There is only the moment when we decide to act.  Thinking in a new way may bring us to this moment and help us see a new path, but until we act, we have not experienced the value of a new choice.  It is the experience that creates a new life for us.  Instant manifestation does occur, but most of the time what we want to manifest requires us to take at least one active step in the direction of what we want.

Only Thinking About Change Doesn’t Create It

Many years ago, I knew a man who wanted to get a job.  He was very spiritual and spent a great deal of time doing positive affirmations, but no job appeared.  When I asked him what jobs he had applied for, he answered that he hadn’t applied for any.  He just knew the right thing would come along if he kept affirming.  Finally, in desperation, he applied for one and got it.

It’s relatively easy to find reasons for not pursuing our dreams or making changes.  Our fear always gets in the way, and we camouflage it with practical excuses.  We can’t take the job we really want because it won’t pay enough or we’re sure we wouldn’t get it because we don’t have enough experience.  We create endless resistance.  We convince ourselves that making the change is impossible and come to a point where we feel good about not acting.  Accepting the status quo calms our fear, and it goes underground.

Taking the Risk to Dance in the Rain

But of course, the longing for something more does not go away and eats at us from time to time.  We find a good reason to change, but we convince ourselves it isn’t the right time.  Life is too complicated right now.  We don’t have enough money or support.  A wonderful unknown author once said, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to be over, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Dancing in the rain, especially without an umbrella like Gene Kelley used, is a crazy fun thing to do.  We laugh, we sing, we let all that rain we were afraid would ruin our hairdo pour over us and we feel free like a child.  For one moment, we forget all the negatives and live life.  Without even realizing it, we have taken that blind leap of faith and are doing what we feared.

Taking the Blind Leap and Aligning with Godself

 So I wonder, what is my friend waiting for?  She has plenty of excuses not to act, but she needs only one reason to take that leap.  Oneness says that it is not courage we need to make this leap, but total detachment to outcome.  “That blind leap is one that is taken not within the confines of your mind, but is sourced within the depths of your heart of hearts.” (Page 76) By aligning with one’s Godself, one is able to know that “the outcome will reflect your highest possible good…” and “that there is nothing to fear.” (Page 77)

In the coming days, in the midst of the holiday bustle, let us be in touch with our heart of hearts, move lovingly through the storms, and take time to dance in the rain where we are open to all good things and cleansed of the fears that limit our joy.  Peace, Love, and Joy to you all!

©2011 Georganne Spruce

Related Articles:  How We Get Hooked and How We Get Unhooked – Pema Chodron; Letting Go

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