Old Consciousness vs New Consciousness
Soothing vs Escaping
When something goes in a
direction we don’t want, the old consciousness way of dealing with it is to try
to fix it, make it right, fight it, or escape from it. New consciousness tell us, “just be with it”,
but sometimes being with whatever isn’t working for us seems negative or bad
for us, and there’s that immediate powerful need within us to fix it however we
are programmed to handle these kinds of things.
Being with what’s wrong in our lives feels like being held underwater
and drowning, so the idea of staying there in watchful awareness seems
impossible.
Very few of us were taught
how to soothe ourselves, to comfort or nurture ourselves. We were taught that those skills were to be
focused on others in our lives; we give that away, not use it on
ourselves. Our inner critic
automatically renders us unworthy of these natural gifts, and we drain
ourselves every day when we don’t practice self-soothing, and then when we need
to reach out and soothe others, it comes from an empty space within us and
feels false to us, making us feel even less worthy. The ego captures us in this spiral and
refuses to let us feed on the natural food that’s the energy of life:
unconditional love, it always starts with ourselves.
This Christmas eve, give
yourself the gift that keeps on giving, that overflows from you and out to all
others you encounter: unconditional love.
The way you start is simple; just pick any moment that doesn’t feel right
to you, an argument with a loved one, a long holiday line at the grocery store,
someone cuts you off in traffic, unpaid bills, anything at all that puts you in
the feeling of fear, anger, pain or general negativity. Instead of moving the way your ego wants to
lead, take a few long deep breaths and feel yourself watching you, see what the
observer in you sees, see that your observer also sees you with unconditional
love, understanding and acceptance. Feel
the truth of your observer, and in doing so, you release yourself from the
bondage of the ego to a place where you can feel the unconditional love
soothing you.
Hear your observer say to
you, “I’m here, I promise I won’t leave you, I am holding you with my complete
and endless awareness, accepting you and all of your feelings exactly as they
are, no need to change a thing, just take my hand, feel my unconditional love
for you, just be with these feelings you have right now. If the feeling is uncomfortable or even
intolerable, don’t try to change it, just be with it and feel my deepest
understanding of who you are. I promise
you that if you do not struggle against or try to escape what you think are
intolerable feelings, I will be here with you in complete awareness and
compassion until it goes away.
Everything you don’t want eventually leaves until all you are left with
is you, and me. We are one in
unconditional love.”
As you practice this
‘being’ with whatever ‘is’, exactly as it is, you’ll not only find that it
dissolves more and more quickly, leaving you to bask in that glow of love, but
you’ll naturally start feeling differently about the circumstances and the
people who you think caused the problem in the first place, and the love will
naturally flow from your own good feelings about yourself outward to everyone around
you. Fill up on love for the holidays,
and may joy, peace and love free you to be who your really are. Love.
