Chapter 25 Summary The truth is a very powerful element in our lives if we allow it to be.
It is our key to a constantly evolving sense of self-respect and freedom.
It is an anchor,
A sail,
And a life preserver on the seas of deception and enticement.
With truth,
We are strong and free.
Without it,
We are in a state of constant confusion.
To know ourselves,
We have to befriend the truth.
To be fully alive,
We must learn to look for it in every moment.
Every experience,
Regardless of its content,
Is a perfectly designed opportunity for us to understand and accept deeper truths about ourselves.
As we begin embracing these insights,
We can start to extricate ourselves from the self-limiting unconscious behaviors that have kept us small,
Afraid,
And separate from ourselves and from life.
As we begin embracing our inner reality,
We'll grow in awareness and equanimity.
We'll begin associating ourselves with the Watcher,
That part of us that is of unlimited depth and compassion,
That part of us that's able to observe our fears and desires rising up and,
Instead of helplessly reacting to them with no profitable aim,
Use them as a way to grow in wisdom and compassion.
As we begin observing ourselves,
We'll start to see that there are many things that we're not in control of.
And as we grow in acceptance of those things that we can't change,
We'll become empowered to make constructive changes wherever and whenever we can.
No longer finding ourselves saying,
Why me,
Or how did I get here?
We will understand that life is providing us with exactly what we need in every moment to help us grow in insight and awareness,
No matter how challenging that may be.
And yet,
This can be one of the more difficult aspects of this inner path,
To realize how truly painful and confusing our lives may be,
Can make us long for the chance to start from an easier place with a view unobstructed by so many weeds of irresponsibility and ignorance.
Yet our place to begin this journey into acceptance and growth,
Into owning ourselves and our lives once again,
Must begin in this very moment,
No matter how difficult that might seem.
And so,
As we dare to take that first step,
Or that thousandth,
We need to know that we're not alone on this path.
We have to remember that life is holding us in her bosom,
Providing us with all of the tools that we need to realize our potential in every moment.
This life is ours and is for us.
We're so valuable and precious that God and her universe are doing everything possible for us at all times,
Whether we realize it or not,
To help us come to know ourselves and our true gifts so that we can help them be born into the world.
We can stand around all day,
All year,
Or our whole lives saying,
What should I do with my life?
But unless we're willing to undertake that long,
Painful,
Most beautiful voyage back into our own hearts,
This question will forever be left unanswered.
With every fear or painful encounter,
Life is trying to harvest us so that we can fill its basket with our own personal fruit,
So that we can better understand ourselves and accept and learn from all of our emotions and grow into individuals who are open to the music of the heavens moving through them,
So that we can become a vehicle for the perfection of life,
A unique instrument being played as only we can,
So that we can sing the song that wants to move through us,
The song that only we can tune into,
That only we can hear.
As we begin looking for the truth within us and start acting upon it,
Our ability to resonate with it improves.
We start to become more authentically creative and move into a place of doing,
Not for taking from life,
But for giving back to it.
As we begin integrating all of the elements within us,
We'll become less and less buffeted by the winds of change and instead start looking to them as indicators of where our vessel should head.
We will learn to leave the false security of our contrived harbour of fear and desire and head out onto the sea of possibility,
Knowing that an eternally safe and secure port exists within us at all times.
As we learn to run not to outer comforts when we feel upset,
But to ourselves,
We'll find a strength forming that is born not of struggle,
But of acceptance,
A strength built upon a constant turning to our inner world and our own needs.
Our own attention and compassion are such powerfully healing things,
It's important for us to realize this and to begin turning our awareness not so much to the world around us,
But to the ways in which we react to avoid the discomfort within us.
To be whole means to accept ourselves as we are,
To learn to see our weaknesses and our fears as no better and no worse than any other part of us.
As our acceptance of these and all of the other elements within us increases,
We will lose sight of the temptations that for so long have brought us comfort and instead find salvation in the simple act of holding our own hand as it has always been held by the universe down that long and often dark path that we call ourselves.
For every time that is taken,
For every love that is lost,
For every moment that we feel small,
Confused,
And afraid,
We are enough.
With our hopes and our fears,
Our dreams and our disappointments,
Our loves and our hates,
Our lives and our deaths.
With each and every step that we take,
Know that God is by our side and that she hears our calls,
That she hears our small voices in the dark and stormy night,
Calling out to her and to ourselves for truth,
Peace,
And love,
Now and always.
