Unity: Letting Go of Ego

All human beings are spiritual creatures who are living on this earth to fulfill a higher purpose. We are all here to make mistakes from the day we are born until the day we die. We are here to learn lessons that are necessary for our own personal/spiritual growth. There is not one human being living on this planet that is 'more important than' anyone else. I don't care who you are, how many college degrees you have, how religious you are, how professional you are, or how many problems you have in your life. This message is for ALL OF US humans living on planet earth...

Self-Acceptance
We all have a past that has many doors we would rather not open. None of us want any of our skeleton's throwing a surprise party in front of anyone. We fear that if we expose our vulnerabilities, we will be rejected by those we care about. We experience fear of rejection because we WANT these people in our life. They hold a special place in our heart, and the loss of these relationships would be devastating to us, personally. We DON'T WANT to experience emotional pain, or any of the negative emotions that come along with it. 

All humans are living on free will. That means, we all have the freedom to make our own choices (good or bad). We CHOOSE to discuss things about our "self" that we perceive as positive, and we CHOOSE to sugar coat our authentic spirit. We CHOOSE to express our strengths, not our weaknesses. Whether we want to admit it or not, most of us do care what others think, and we all want the same thing. To be accepted for who we truly are...

The Problem:
Our focus is external. We WANT acceptance from others. When we are rejected, we experience negative emotions that can manifest into emotional pain (internally). When we hold onto these negative emotions, it creates internal wounds or scars. We do our best to put on a happy face and move forward in life, but deep down we have only buried seeds of torture that will eventually haunt our soul. We WANT to forget all the terrible things that we have experienced and as time goes on our memories do fade. However, we don't realize our subconscious mind has recorded every detail, and these experiences can resurface in divine timing. Instead of healing our wounds, we build walls with our scars and create blockages in all areas of our future.  We learn to HATE things that are associated with our past experiences instead of learning how to be grateful for the valuable lessons we have learned from each situation.

Photo Credit: The Odyssey Online

The Solution:
Our focus should be internal. We WANT acceptance from others, but this life is not all about what we want. We spend our time mapping out our goals while we create the stepping stones to our future. Our plan is a straight line from point A to point Z. And then there is Gods plan. He sees your strength and creates your lesson plan(s). God already knows the bigger picture, and what you truly NEED to successfully reach point Z. It is up to us to embrace our personal weaknesses, and build the strength we truly NEED to successfully accomplish our goals. The solution is to find acceptance from within. We must love our "self", accept our "self", trust our "self", and have faith in our "self". After all, how are we to expect others to accept us if we don't even accept our "self"?

Photo Credit: Mindy Clemons

Listen to Understand
We all WANT to be heard. We all WANT to express our thoughts and our feelings. Lack of understanding is the primary cause of rejection. People don't want to accept things they cannot understand, and the ego can often take over the conversation resulting in a verbal battle of belief imbalances. The battlefield is quite bloody, and it's always a lose/lose situation. Instead of opening our mind to new possibilities, we are closing doors and limiting our own beliefs. Life is full of opportunities that we miss out on when our ego is in control. We learn by listening, questioning, and observing. Speaking is how we 'teach'. We CHOOSE whether or not we WANT to learn new things. 

We become wise by listening to people. If we could only mute the trigger emotions that arise when sensitive topics are discussed, and if we could only tolerate listening to words we would normally tune out as "nonsense". If we focused on visualizing the individual's situation, and placing ourselves in their shoes - we just might begin to understand WHY the situation IS the way it IS. And THAT is the moment we can begin to find acceptance for what IS and what shall BE. Empathy before ego.

Stay Humble
Life has its ups and downs. It doesn't matter where you came from, you can always hit rock bottom. Remember, this is God's plan. God doesn't care about your fancy house and your fabulous car. God doesn't care what your hair looks like, what kind of clothes you are wearing, or if your nails are done. If God sees that your actions do not align with your intentions, he can take everything from you before you even realize what happened. Life is not about 'things'. Life is about 'lives'. How are you serving your life, and the lives of those around you?

Accountability
We are all equally responsible for our own thoughts, feelings, and actions. We receive the 'cause' and produce the 'effect'. Cause is the driving force, or the reason why things happen. Effect is the 'what happened' result of the cause. Cause is outside of our control, and effect is inside of our control.

Where We Fail as a Human Race:
We blame the cause to justify our own actions (effect). The ego says, "you are too good to admit you were wrong".

Hit the Reset Button
You have the power to hit the reset button on your life anytime you desire. You have the power to change your thoughts, your attitude, your perspective, and your life. Everything happens for a reason, and there is a reason why this article has landed on your lap today. This is your opportunity to make a difference in the world we all live in. If we are going to pursue happiness, we need to start looking within ourselves and stop looking for OUR happiness in other people or 'cause(s)'. When we are truly happy with our "self", we focus on pursuing things in life that we WANT. When we are truly happy with our "self", we spread LOVE, not hate. When we are truly happy with our "self", we don't WANT to be the cause of manifesting toxic energy. One action, one comment, is all it takes to complete the circle of cause and effect. Are you satisfied with your results? Be honest with yourself, no one is judging you. 

Forgiveness and Gratitude
We all make mistakes, again, that is why we are living on this earth. We must forgive our "self" for our own mistakes. We must know that we did the best we could with what we had to work with in that moment, and identify the valuable lessons we learned from these errors. All our mistakes have made us better people than we were yesterday. Forgiveness is the process of releasing blame, and gratitude is the quality of being thankful. Could you imagine what this world would be like if we all spent as much time focusing on reasons to be grateful for one another rather than finding reasons to hate each other?
IT ALL BEGINS WITHIN YOU. We must focus on healing (internally), not bleeding (externally). 

Controlling Our Emotions
Do you remember the ol' saying, "if you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all"? Easier said than done, right? Practice makes perfect. We are all going to mess up, that's why we call it "practice". Identify your emotional triggers. What specifically is the cause(s) that fuels your fire? Whatever the reason may be, your emotions are 100% valid. We are all justified for feeling the way we do. When there is a 'cause' that produces negative emotions within us, there is generally a moment of silence before the storm. 

We CHOOSE to respond either with our emotions or rational mind. It's literally the difference between a wildfire and a controlled burn. There is NO harm in speaking truth as long as it is necessary and delivered with kindness. The truth may hurt, but it is necessary for personal and spiritual growth. Growing pains, so to speak. 

WHAT is stopping you from stepping into your higher self? WHERE are your weaknesses? HOW will you overcome your challenges? 

This is YOUR opportunity to change your life, and make a difference in the world. The question is...
Will YOU pursue happiness?