For years now my mother has talked about me getting to a place where I am the real SUSAN. And for years, I have never had a clear understanding of what the hell she’s been talking about. Did I ask for clarification? Nah…just nodded and smiled…as you do. Maybe I didn’t care enough about it or maybe for some other reason, but apparently, the timing wasn’t right for me to get it.
One recent Sunday morning I listened to a recorded talk by one of my favourite authors, Neale Donald Walsch. Throughout his messages about ending the struggle and making your life work, Neale got talking about the very subject of being who we really are. And…
A-HA! I get it now! (Sorry, mom…Lord knows you tried…)
I now understand what being the real you is all about…what it means…what it looks like as a habit…as a daily experience.
Being the real you means that no matter what is going on around you, you are remembering and exuding your TRUE NATURE. You know, that light-filled spirit you embodied when you entered this world. Your true nature…the real you is that bundle of love who didn’t judge, who didn’t expect things, and who didn’t stress about a damn thing. That’s who I really am and that’s who you really are! We are not our thoughts. We are not our worries. We are not our stories about the past and the future. We are not what we do, what we have, or what we have accomplished. All of that mind-chatter and ego thinking is just stuff that leads us away from “home”.
This is your true nature.
Anytime you don’t look and act like this photo of my baby nephew, Lucas, the “dream”…the illusions of this made-up world and the expectations and stressful thoughts that it triggers, has led you astray from who you really are.
One of the typical symptoms of chronic stress shared by participants in my workshops is “being a bitch” to other people. That’s it exactly! Who observes a baby doing anything and thinks, “What a bitch!”
Think of all the dramatic stories, limiting beliefs, and stressful thoughts in your mind as the many layers that cover up your true peaceful, playful, excitable nature. Deciding to remember and exude that true nature of yours is a powerful act of awareness. Being who you really are is a conscious decision to peel away those layers…it’s waking up and heading “home”.
So, no matter what the drama, disappointment, or stressful situation, can you remember who you really are? Can you look like your baby photo more often rather than say, a passport photo? Can you approach each moment with that same wide open heart and stillness in your mind that you had so long ago?
Sounds challenging? You bet it is. It might be one heck of a rise in awareness for the first little while, (it has been for me!), but hold steady and strong, my fellow spiritual warrior. If we stay at it long enough we just might make it “home”…being who we really are just might become “second nature.”
Big Love,
susan