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WCN Library Article # 5: |
Self Awareness: The foundation for my personal growth and healing is self awareness, my ability to monitor my state of being from moment to moment. Whenever I stop my habitual mental wandering and focus my attention on just one thing, that thing begins to change. I've observed a pattern in my growth and healing. First my awareness is directed to something within me that needs to change. The mechanisms that caught my attention have included a traumatic incident, a therapeutic relationship, and several forms of energetic stimulation. When my awareness and energy became focused, a self-healing or growth mechanism was activated that began to bring about the desired changes. This process was at times assisted and supported by some gentle outside intervention. With self awareness came growth, healing, and choice. Choice: I can only be free when I am able to consciously choose my actions. Reacting automatically to the sensations within my being without being aware of their nature and purpose turns over the responsibility for my actions to other forces, situations, and people. I now understand that every action in my life can be performed in a number of different ways. I can consciously choose how I sit, how I think, how I vote, how I breathe, how I work, how I listen, etc. Choice is the conscious decision I make in that precious moment that follows awareness and precedes action. The more I am aware in each moment, the greater my ability to choose my actions and ultimately my destiny. From my awareness, comes choice, followed by the appropriate application of will. Submission and Use of Will: I am trying to live in a way that incorporates both spiritual connection and active involvement in the material world. One of the critical choices I have to regularly make is when to submit a situation to a Higher Will and when to actively involve my own will. I have found this to be a very subtle, and challenging process. The process of knowing that I actually had a choice in applying my will began when I became more aware of how the various parts of my being functioned and what their respective roles and responsibilities actually were in my life. This awareness, based on self observation, many mistakes, and years of personal struggle, led to the following conclusion. I don't have the power or ability to "do" spiritual work and the Creator won't deprive me of my opportunities for growth by doing my material work for me! The delegation of life responsibilities became very clear. I was responsible for my material relationships and the Creator was responsible for my spiritual purification and guidance! Spiritual connection requires that I totally submit my heart, mind, body and will to the Creator. There are no active things that I can do to increase my spiritual development other than to co-operate with the process and keep my mind and heart fully occupied in the world around me. The Creator's Presence is already within my being. It is this Presence, assisted by an all-encompassing Universal Energy, Universal Laws, and a hierarchy of spiritual beings, that provides for my spiritual needs. In spiritual matters, I don't will; it is willed. I don't try; I am tried. I don't take; I receive! My full involvement in the material world requires that I totally apply my heart, mind, body and will to the creation of balanced and harmonious relationships with all the material objects, plants, animals, and fellow humans beings I meet in my daily life. Getting my material relationships "right" allows me to materially prosper while co-operating with the universal process of transferring energy to where it is needed! Knowing when to submit and when to be active means I've chosen to co-operate with the universe, not compete with it. Co-operation: The successful relationships I have had are the result of my willingness and ability to be mindful of the needs of my relationship partners as well as my own. When I have been able to co-operate in helping my partners meet their needs, our relationships have usually been in balance and harmony. I now understand that this spirit of co-operation is essential for my own growth and healing. All of the intellectual, emotional, physical, social, financial, and spiritual parts of my being must be working in harmony if complete growth and healing is to occur. A powerful unifying tool in gaining that co-operation is a clear life purpose or mission, one that is supported by all parts of my being. When the spirit of co-operation is not part of my awareness, I act according to my own interests and often forget the needs of others. I discovered something very interesting recently. I observed that there is a direct correlation between my state of spiritual connection and the degree to which I compete with others. Without feeling the Presence of the Creator I tend to feel more separated from others and view them as a "them" instead of an "us". My growth and healing are processes that require self awareness, the ability to choose my actions, the appropriate application or submission of my will, co-operation with all living things, and compassion. Compassion: Compassion is my ability to recognize the inherent beauty and dignity of every living thing, regardless of the circumstances I find them in. In religious or philosophical terms, it's finding the presence of the Christ, Buddha, Tao, etc., in everyone I encounter. I discovered that my sense of compassion is the product of my connection with the Creator. I cannot feel compassionate with my intellect or will alone, although I have tried. Compassion is not necessarily about the actions I perform, but rather the spirit behind them. My constantly changing needs and situations require different action responses, sometimes gentleness and affection, other times a more assertive stance. Compassion is the underlying belief and attitude I bring to all my relationships. It is a recognition that I am dealing with a fellow living being who shares the same Creator's love. Compassion permits me to criticize another person's hurtful behaviour without attacking their character. During my ongoing process of personal growth and healing, the object that most required my compassion has been myself! The more compassionate and gentle I am with myself, the easier it has been to heal and grow. May we all grow, heal, and be gentle with ourselves and each other! |