Lately my mind has been wandering to the more reflective side of life.  What has been coming up more and more is the beauty that lies with each of us.  Recently we chatted on Thanksgiving about clarity in our chat Thank You Clarity . Clarity is a funny little thing.  It sneaks up on you with its little nagging voice telling you “psst listen…I am trying to tell you something.”  Sometimes it feels like the annoying voice of an older and wiser person who is trying to tell you something you don’t want to hear.  You know that person.  You love them, they love you but sometimes…..you just don’t feel like hearing it.  Well that’s what can happen with our truth.  It’s sneaky, sometimes subtle until it’s not.  We hear the voice with it’s message but often times we find ways of dampening it through things that trigger the pleasure center in our brain.  You know those things that make you feel all good for the moment but then leave you wanting more and more and more.  We end up like the cookie monster always looking for the next cookie: sometimes literally.  Things that trigger the pleasure center come in all different forms, some more socially acceptable than others, but the thing they all have in common is that they never quite do the trick. They work in the moment but do not have lasting effects over time. A nice glass of wine, a piece of rich cake, decadent rich food, and a new shiny thing from your favorite store are all socially acceptable ways to manage emotions until they get out of hand causing obesity, alcoholism and crushing debt. Another strong, socially acceptable way to numb is through keeping busy.  Right now is the the season for busyness, numbing and overspending so I imagine that we all are having challenges with this. We have become human doings over time and not human beings.  Other forms of numbing that are seen as contributing to a more deviant lifestyle such as drug use are seen as dirty and disgusting.  But I have come to see that there is a thread here that we all struggle and it is being open to our truth.  These forms of numbing can happen on a spectrum with some people struggling more than others, but as a whole when we numb we are not listening.  We become like the opposition teenager whose all “la la la la” while their parent is trying to help guide them on the road of life.

The allure of numbing comes from the fear of dealing. In our fast paced culture, none of us seem to have time or the want to deal with what is going on inside of us.  Seeking the quick fix has become a way of life for Americans.  It is a message that gets drilled into us more and more.  If you have a problem in your relationship that is causing any sexual dysfunction well there’s a pill for that.  If you are having any emotion that feels uncomfortable or intolerable, there are pills for that as well.  As we continue to seek the quick fix we also continue to dampen and stuff our truth.  While all this is occurring we wonder why there is so much unhappiness around, right?  I have found that the answers to all of this are within and they begin with creating a more loving relationship with ourselves.  It wasn’t until I began to really embrace myself with loving kindness that I could begin to separate from the things that were holding me back from my own greatness.  As we recently discussed during our last chat Forget Resolutions, Embrace Intentions  change takes time.  Change is a process and it is sneaky as well.  I have found that as I released some of my grasp on my old ways, change just took place.  I find myself in a new place in life with my old identity slowly becoming a distant memory.  Evolution takes hold and freedom sets in.  I am grateful for clarity that has also risen to the surface.  It has allowed me to begin to move through life with more ease.  We all get drawn into the allure of numbing as it’s quicker and easier but I find in the times when I don’t a gift is awaiting me.

I leave you with this famous quote from Marianne Williamson “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?”  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small does not serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.  We are all meant to shine, as children do.  We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.  It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  When we stop dampening our spirit, our souls get a chance to shine which no only brightens our spirit but the spirits of all those around us.

For today, what will you do to allow your spirit to soar and shine?  What ways can you begin to allow yourself to let go of the ways you numb so that you can allow the beautiful you underneath to rise up for all to see?

Cheers!