Chapter 7 Allow me to introduce yourself What if I told you that as you sit here reading this book,
You are not the person you think you are?
I know it's a strange concept.
You were there at the birth.
You've grown up with yourself,
Watched yourself physically change.
You have got to know yourself really well.
If you put this book down and went and stood in front of a full length mirror and looked,
What would you see?
Who stares back at you?
Your human form.
But is there more to you than meets the eye?
You will quickly realise that there are parts of you that you cannot see,
But that you know exist.
Your thoughts,
Your emotions,
They all make you who you are,
Yet are non-physical.
Would you allow yourself to go a step further?
If you are willing to accept that you are more than what you can see,
Then could there be even more to you?
You may have already experienced what I am beginning to describe and know it as your sixth sense or gut feeling,
Your instinct.
It's not tangible.
You can't really explain it.
But if you recall a situation when you have listened and trusted,
Then it will always have looked out for your best interests.
It cares for you,
Gently guides you.
It contains your life purpose.
It has every answer you will ever need.
And as you begin to connect and deepen your relationship with it,
Treasures will be revealed to you that will change your life.
A single note within a piece of music that seems to touch you deeply,
A flower moving gently on a summer breeze that makes perfect sense to you,
The stillness of an ancient oak,
The dawn chorus.
This is who you really are.
This is what your mother saw when she looked into your eyes as she held you for the first time.
Pure,
Kind,
Natural,
Giving.
This hidden part of you has many titles,
Especially with indigenous and tribal people who all recognise it as your true essence,
A timeless part of you that connects you to the universe and eternity.
Typically in the West,
Words such as soul or spirit begin to create an understanding.
You may have heard the terms higher,
Inner or true self,
Although perhaps the more we try to label it,
The less we understand it.
On a recent Your Simple Path workshop,
I asked the group to think about an analogy that could begin to help them understand their relationship with their true self.
Here's a lovely example.
Imagine that a mother is at home with a toddler.
They are both in the kitchen and mommy is busy preparing the evening meal.
Pans boil away,
The oven is too hot to touch and knives and sharp implements are on show.
The little one is in no danger and plays with her toys at the other end of the room.
Even though all around her is potential harm,
The presence of her caring mother makes her feel safe.
All is well whilst the little girl feels the protective and safe presence of her mom and she remains calm and happily goes on playing.
Now envisage the effect on the little girl if her mother had stepped outside and the door had locked shut behind her.
Suddenly the little one senses the separation.
Now the pots could boil over,
The oven is fire,
The knives could fall.
Nothing has actually changed for the little girl apart from becoming detached from her source of comfort and love.
As she looks up at the window,
Her mother smiles and gently whispers,
Open the door,
And the little girl is calm again.
All she had to remember was that she wasn't alone.
As she opens the door,
Her mother picks her up and holds her close.
This example uses pots,
Pans and knives to make the point,
But could easily be anxiety,
Stress and worry.
The key is separation from a part of you that sees the bigger picture and knows that everything is going to be okay.
If we look at the previous chart it defines our actions and emotions as above or below the line.
Anything below is typically associated with a lack of trust,
The need to control.
It comes from a part of us that we have created ourselves.
It is called our ego.
To help you understand the relationship between your higher or truer self and your ego,
I'd like you to imagine the birth of a child.
In the delivery suite as the baby is born,
Uncertainty,
Anxiety and fear are replaced by sheer awe and amazement as the energy in the room changes and just for a moment it all makes sense to us.
The newborn baby brings with it a pure,
Serene quality.
I remember that after all of the noise and turmoil associated with the birth,
That first moment of eye contact I had with my children caused my heart to melt.
I sensed the total trust and faith that they had in me and all of life.
This may be the closest we get to both witnessing and understanding that higher or inner part of us,
As both theirs and indeed ours,
Are on show.
It's not long,
However,
Before a gentle shift takes place,
As can't do replaces can do and our hopes seemingly become hopeless.
We all begin to construct a survival mechanism.
It's called our ego and every block we build takes us further away from who we really are or,
Even more important,
Who we could be.
Our ego keeps us in check.
It reminds us to stay small.
Our ego is fed by fear and is readily available with list after list of why you couldn't possibly live your dream or be with that person.
It darkens your natural light,
Attempts to silence your beautiful voice and would definitely rather you hadn't picked up this particular book.
So as you read on,
Allow yourself to remain open as each page gently loosens your ego's grip and lets your true light shine through.
