“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 the Dance 