INNER LIGHT MInistries Journal Volume 26 Number 1
A
True To Being Your Self
by Jim Gordon, President of ILM
(from Know Thy Self, 3/10/10)
re you happy? Are you joyful? Are you moving forward? Are you having the experiences in life that you want? If not, the only person that can change that is you. Of course, there are people in the world who claim they can change your life and they’ll play the game of it, but oftentimes, they’ll only confuse you more than help you – and you’ll confuse yourself trying to do the things they tell you to do. Maybe those things they’re telling you to do worked for them, but those things may not be the tools by which you can move forward in your life. So, don’t copy other people, and maybe you don’t even need to listen to other people telling you how you should be living your life. I’ve had people tell me that I’m wrong, that what I’m doing is wrong, that I’m going the wrong direction. I’d think, “Well, maybe I need to pay attention. Maybe they’re wiser than me,” and I’d give it a try only to find out they weren’t wiser than me. Telling ourselves that we should be something that we’re not, comparing ourselves to others and yearning for the happiness we believe someone else has acquired also does not work. That’s living outside of ourselves, and that can only lead to separation and discontent. I’ve found that if I can just be honest and patient with myself, and honor myself by doing my life my way, that I have a great joy and happiness and enthusiasm with my own life. But, the moment I start looking outside of myself, living outside of myself, I go into separation, frustration, anger, judgment, and I am miserable in that space. Those aren’t the qualities of life I want, and they aren’t going to get me anywhere except into greater shut down and greater pain. Early on in my life I kept a journal. Each day I would write down one thing I learned about myself that day. One day I decided to read through my journal, and I was quite surprised. Amongst my entries were complaints about other people – my impatience with other people,
April, 2014
things I’d seen other people do that I thought were wrong, things others had done wrong to me. As I read on, I became aware of how I had been approaching situations and how I had been responding to others. I realized that I had been in reaction with a lot of people. I began to explore my reactions because I knew they built barriers and caused separation between myself and others, as well as between myself and my self, and ultimately, between myself and God. This exploration became the next part of my journaling and the next part of my journey. Through journaling, I learned that I sometimes reacted because I was envious of what others had. I learned that I’d get frustrated or angry if I felt others weren’t listening to me, or were trying to get me to think the way they did or expecting me to do things their way. I suddenly realized that there was an action that I needed to do, and that was to be patient with them, and allow them to be who they are. I realized that I couldn’t expect them to change in order for my world to be what I wanted. I had to just be patient with them and allow them to live their life even if it seemed to clashed with mine. If they were going to try to “put stuff on me”, that’s fine, but I don’t have to take “their stuff” in; I don’t have to live it, I don’t have to believe it, and I don’t have to dismiss my own self. Through my new awareness and learning I began to be more patient and accepting of others. I also began to be more patient and loving with myself. I was no longer so self-centered, but was becoming center-focused, and I began to live from that centeredness in a greater way than I had ever lived before. My question to you is this: What would it be like for you to live your life your way, to find your joy, to find your peace, your happiness, your abundance, your enthusiasm, and at the same time, allow others to do the same in their lives? The first key is to live your life honestly and be true to yourself; others will eventually, if not immediately, come into alignment. The second key is to be patient with others, and allow others to live their lives honestly and be true to themselves.