Greetings God Spirits,
Gentle reminder about our Science of Mind meeting this coming Sunday 4/28/2019 Time: 10AM Place: 937 Canvas Back Drive, Charlottesville (Redfields) Contact: Kathy
We will be Watching Rev. Lee Wolak, Part 6, ” Mental Equivalents” on the Science of Mind Basics.
Below is the April article we will be discussing. Looking forward to seeing everyone. Enjoy your week.
The hardest time in my life was when I was in middle school–not because the school work was challenging but because I didn’t feel like I belonged. I constantly said the wrong thing. I was shy. I wasn’t funny or smart or good at sports. The truth is, as hard as I tried, I did not fit in. And what made matters worse was I knew it. I knew that I was different from everyone else. And that I was different in a bad way. I was uncomfortable in my own skin and felt that something was wrong with me. Whenever I saw a group of my classmates, that “I-don’t-fit-in” awkward feeling took over my mind and body before I even said a word. That incapacitating feeling of not fitting in and always saying or doing the wrong thing followed me for decades.
MOVING FROM SEPARATION TO CONNECTION Because I was unsure of the right thing to do or say, I watched what other people did and tried to emulate what I thought was right. This continued on unsuccessfully into my corporate career, which made advancing in a world of office politics and insincerity a no-win situation.
What I didn’t know then was that no matter how much everything looked right on the outside, people feel the inauthenticity when you try to be someone or something you are not. The energy behind “this is what I am supposed to do” is different than the energy behind “this is who I am and what I believe.”
Everything can look right, yet people still feel something is off. They may not be able to articulate why, but they won’t trust you.
When we reside in the “who I am supposed to be” energy, we are looking outside ourselves for validation. Because we believe who we are is not OK, we experience ourselves as separate from everyone else. We are insecure, so we look to others for proof that we are worthy and for which next steps to take.
Fortunately, after years of struggle and low self-esteem, many of us begin to look inward for answers, which begins a path of spiritual self-discovery and a gradual building of our spiritual self-esteem.
Discovering our spiritual self is a unique journey, as we’ve each traveled different paths to get ourselves into the situation we are in now. The good news is that this journey leads us from feelings of separation to realizing our interconnectedness with each other. Coming to the realization that we are all one and each of our individual selves matters, we feel connection rather than separation. We know we are one with Spirit, and there is strength in that. We feel we are needed and special just the way we are. And the only way to express this and live from this place of love is to be and live as our unique selves.
The more you embrace your unique self and unabashedly love who you truly are, the more quickly you will find your tribe-that comfortable and amazing place where you thrive. To do that, you first have to let go of who you are not.
SHED WHO YOU ARE NOT When all attempts to externally validate ourselves fail, we are drawn to look inward and explore our spiritual selves. Many of us reach the point on life, often, after an intensely painful event or low point, where we discover we’ve been living our lives wearing masks. We’ve been making decisions on how we are supposed to be and what we are supposed to do based on other people’s judgments and expectations rather than having our own. We’ve accumulated many of these expectations over the years. Building our spiritual self-esteem and discovering our true selves means shedding who we are not in order to reveal the truth of who we are. What’s your job on this journey of self-exploration? It is to build the spiritual self-esteem to understand the truth of who you really are; to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are a valuable, important and much-needed aspect of the Divine. To know this as your truth is an imperative part of the journey to conscious living. It’s an imperative part of the journey to living as who you really are. In this process we don’t discover who we are, we shed who we are not. In “The Science of Mind,” Dr. Ernest Holmes tells us, “We arrive at a consciousness of Unity only in such degree as we see that what we are looking for, we are looking with and looking at.” We arrive at a consciousness of oneness by taking apart who we are not and not only discovering, but loving, our true self.
TRUST YOURSELF The journey to oneness begins with a single step. Because you haven’t been down this road before and don’t know where you are going, you have to trust yourself that you know the next step forward. When you have lived your life looking externally for answers, this can be an incredibly uncomfortable way of acting and being at first. Unfortunately, there is no one-size fits-all formula for uncovering your true self. Shedding your false self happens one step at a time and is a process uniquely, intensely personal for each of us. The goal becomes learning to trust your next step and only your next step because you can’t know the entire path before you. Begin by asking yourself:Is this me or is this someone else telling me what to do? You do this with each step and learn to feel, to intuit your way to truth. Spiritual self-esteem gives us the confidence, the power, the wherewithal to manifest our desires intentionally, using universal principles. Rather than watching how others live their lives and trying to emulate that, we discover our own unique and perfect way of creating. Learning who we are, each of us diverse and individual, and owning that uniqueness is the spiritual path. Celebrating and honoring our individuality rather than being outwardly focused and mimicking the path of others is the key to living a life of purpose, joy and intention. It is the key to knowing and loving yourself exactly as you are. While we are a unique expression of the Divine, we are all part of the same divine energy. We are all souls on this planet growing, expanding and expressing ourselves. And how wonderful it is to know this truth when we can stand tall, be seen as who we are and celebrate our unique selves. At the same time, we gain the confidence to trust ourselves. One step at a time.
CELEBRATE YOUR UNIQUE DIVINITY Thoughts are things. This truth lies at the heart of Science of Mind teaching. As you take step after step and begin to shed the confines of living with the burden of who you are not, it’s important to take the time to celebrate your “YOUness.” Celebrate even the smallest shedding of who you are not, for you are uncovering your bright light. The truth is we are all one, and we are each different. And you and I and everyone else are integral parts of that oneness. Each of us in our own unique (and perhaps quirky) way is needed. We are each a valuable contribution to the whole of the universe. We recognize this only when we are being who we truly are and when we let go of trying to be who we think we are supposed to be. Celebrating the unique divinity of you, of your YOUness, is integral to living a conscious and courageous life filled with love. Thoughts are things. Focus on celebrating what’s working and you will see more of that-more of the authentic you will show up in your life. And as you continue to unravel more and more of the authentic you, the world will have more of you to experience-something it desperately craves.
Blessings, Kathy McConnin