You Had It All Along

Recently I read a blog post for people who lean toward being introverted about starting conversations at parties or other social gatherings. One question they suggested asking was, "What is your super power?" It got me thinking about how I would answer that question. 

Then I came across a Super Soul Sunday episode where Oprah interviewed  Shauna Niequist, author of Present Not Perfect. Shauna comes from a Christian background, her father is a pastor of a mega church. A few  years ago  she had a spiritual crisis; her life was out of control. Exhausted and depleted, she realized she wasn't living in alignment with her values and intentions. This realization required a big change. She proceeded to deconstruct her life, let go of obligations and get conscious about her priorities.  

It was a great interview but my favorite part was when Shauna spoke about self-worth and her morning practice. 

Each morning she spends a little time focused on God's love for her. She centers herself with the image of a beautiful red heart in her mind's eye and soaks in all of God's unconditional love. She writes, "not to earn it, but to remind myself that it can't be earned." During the interview she said, that she finds comfort in knowing that there is nothing we can do to lose God's love.

Take that in for a moment.

Close your eyes and imagine a well-spring of love pulsing with each beat of your heart. God is right where you are, expressing in you, through you and as you, right now.

Isn’t that freeing? All of God’s love is right where you are. There is nothing you need to do to earn it. There is nothing you can do to lose it. You are it. In the words of Glenda the Good Witch, “You had the power all along.”

And then I knew! That's my super power, The knowledge that I'm safe in God's love always without exception. 

That’s what Sunday’s are all about at our beautiful Center this month, Spiritual Living through Love as Safety.  Come, get filled up and energize that super power! 

Free Your Mind

A couple of years ago, a good friend introduced me to a little book called The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. After reading it, I bought copies for every member of my family because I loved the message so much. I must admit, even though I loved the concepts in the book, I found it difficult to actually execute them. I had so many questions:

• If I don't listen to that voice will I miss something important or cause harm to myself? 
• How can I ignore years of experience? 
• That voice is only trying to protect me, how can it be all bad?

Recently, Michael Singer made his first television appearance on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday. The broadcast was so enlightening for me. Hearing Michael explain the concepts in person, made so much sense. Immediately, I went and found my copy of The Untethered Soul and began to re-read it. I quickly realized that I am a different person reading this book again. I'm seeing things more clearly and understanding the concepts on a new level.

In Chapter 2, Your Inner Roommate, Michael challenges the reader to do an experiment. He suggests we don't try to stop the voice in our head from talking, but rather externalize the voice. Imagine the voice with a body and likeness living outside your head. "Let it be a person who says on the outside exactly what the voice says on the inside. Now make that person your best friend." He goes on to explain, eventually you will see how annoying, mean, unreasonable, whinny and neurotic that voice can be. Michael contends that you wouldn't let a real person get away with saying to you the things that your inner voice says.

So, I tried it. This morning in the shower, Jason Mraz's song Living in the Moment was running through my head. I pictured Jason standing just outside the shower with his guitar singing to me. Hilarious!! I actually laughed out loud. Now, I know I need to continue the experiment with other voices in my head, but this one silly moment illustrated just how ridiculous living in our heads can be.

In that moment, I declared: It's time to move out! I'm ready for a little peace.

Watch the little snippet from Super Soul Sunday with Michael Singer and see if you are ready to evict the roommate in your head and free your mind.

Namaste