Caught in the Reins

If you catch yourself thinking money and worldwide recognition are exclusive measures of virtue and validity, remember... Scientology made billions of dollars and has had hundreds of thousands of worldwide followers. #MythBusted

True power has so little to do with outward displays of wealth or influence.

To me, it’s more like... 

• How do you hold yourself through difficult situations?

• Can you cultivate your internal landscape?

• How deeply can you sink into the present moment and be with what’s really going on within and all around you?

• How congruent is the life you’re living with who you really are?

You're tempted to chase external markers of power because you think it exempts you from doing the real work of repairing your relationship with yourself.

“At least I'll look successful,” the ego says, “and that’ll be enough to get me by.”

This is especially enticing if you have a history of low self-esteem.

But while you believe you’re incapable of developing the fortitude and skill to live a truly aligned and decent life, you’re still at the mercy of the small self, and no matter how many markers of external success you accumulate, it won’t be enough to turn off the inner-critic or quell the sense of haunting restlessness that comes from abandoning your true self.

On a subconscious level, your bid for material success is an attempt to control how people see you because you think it will change the way they treat you. And if other people treat you like you are worthwhile and valuable, then maybe, just maybe, you'll be able to believe them, and your relationship with yourself will change as a result.

Rather than seeing other people's behaviour for what it is - a projection of their relationship with themselves - a part of you has decided that how they treat you is an indication of who you are.

Now, at the level of consciousness this part of you is stuck in, its only concern is doing whatever it takes to make sure you have others’ approval and avoid deeper scrutiny. It is cornered into making sure you are never again treated like you were in the past.

This is what's keeping you exhausting yourself bending to please others.

The real path - the one you're here to walk - is one of liberation from needing other people to tell you who you are.

It's one of asking...

• How proud are you of yourself?

• How good do YOU feel about the work you’re doing in the world?

It's the discovery of your true values and gifts, and the fortifying of your internal foundations.

This is a journey that cannot be bypassed.

Other people's accolades can only sustain you for so long. The glow of even the kindest words and humblest of adulation has an expiration date.

As you free yourself from the shackles of this conditioning you created, you begin to see the magic and beauty in your current reality, rather than always chasing the gold at the end of the rainbow.

Where you are - and who you are now - becomes the centre of your focus, and you get to experience your Self, rather than frantically flailing through your life in a disassociated state.

You create from a place of grounded wholeness, and you show up to all the things in your life because it feels GOOD (even when it doesn't) to show up with all of you for what you love, not because you feel like you have to to survive.

You access a level of authenticity and inner solidity that can't be faked... and people can feel it.

Rather than calling in the people who also want to run from their deeper work, and chasing a fantasy together, you're surrounded by salt-of-the-earth legends who nourish and inspire you.

They know and cultivate the best in you, because they know and cultivate the best in themselves, and rather than trying to sell a bastardized version of yourself to prove you belong, you relax and truly feel at home in their presence and your own.

You're wasting your energy attempting to control how other people see you. Stop living just to feed the beast of your reputation - running a PR department for a version of you that doesn't exist outside your mind - and honour the truth of who you are by liberating yourself from the shadows that are keeping you stuck in the past.

The only way forward is to challenge yourself to live a life in alignment with what you love and hold yourself to your standards.