Living Inside Out

Some use external resources
This is the path they’ve taken
But as Carl Jung so eloquently wrote
Those who look outside dream
Those who look inside awaken

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a blessed week of going with the flow and living in the unknown. This week I’m going to start with a story that was told by Wayne Dyer in his latest PBS Special “Excuses Be Gone”.

There was a story about an old woman who lived in the Himalayans. Every day she would walk to the river to sit and rest. In her hand she carried a bag that held bread in case she was to get hungry. On this particular day at the river, she saw a shining rock at the bottom of the shallow riverbed. She fished out the stone realizing that not only did it take up the whole palm of her hand, but that this was not a stone but a precious jewel and could bring her anything she wanted in the world. She dried the stone and put it in her bag and went on with her day.

One day, a man approached her exclaiming that he had been traveling for a while and was hungry and asked if she had something to eat. She willingly took a piece of bread and handed it to him. While she was doing this, he noticed the stone in her bag. He said to her “that is a beautiful stone, may I have it?” She said “of course”, reached in her bag and handed him the stone. He held the stone in his hand knowing that all of his problems were solved as now he would have all the abundance, wealth, success, etc that he’s always dreamt of.

The next day, the man found the woman again sitting at the river. He came to return the rock to her. When asking him “why would you return such a precious jewel to me?” He told her, “what I want is more precious than this jewel could ever be, what I want is whatever that you have inside of you to offer me this stone”…

When I heard that story my eyes glassed over and I thought “yes”. I also began to think about how so many of us, including myself, put so much value on things, situations and even people that are on the outside of us. It used to be the only way I knew how to live.

Not until I started training as a life coach did I really see the importance of how we feel and what we belive about oursevles on the INSIDE is what shapes our realities and that while we could make sure that our lives appear pefect and happy on the OUTSIDE by acquiring the perfect job, the perfect mate, great clothes and a nice car, until we are willing to get still, quiet our minds and learn to look inside ourselves, we most likely will be left wanting. I’ve even found myself doing hundreds of affirmations, writing unlimited journal entries, buying bookshelves of self help books and attending dozens of seminars in order to find the answer that I thought I needed to get me to where I wanted to be in life. While yes, in a few of these workshops and books I learned to look inside of myself, I would find myself falling back into old patterns whenever it started to get uncomfortable to be quiet and still and start to delve into the depths of my existence. Action steps became too hard because it meant that I was going to have to face parts of myself that I thought were too scary or even worse, people wouldn’t like me and I would be left alone which would mean that I would really have to face my biggest fear, how I really feel about myself. It wasn’t until just last week that I realized I was going “half-way” with my coaching because it kept me safe and I didn’t have to really put myself out there.

In order to go full tilt and make my dreams a reality, I am going to have to go inside even more and uncover whatever limitations and beliefs are still there that continue to hold me back. I have decided to document this process not only in writing but also through a video blog that I will share on my weekly blogs and on my website. This will be my first step in getting out into the world and it is with hope and intention that other people will join me in the process of transformation and illumination.

I am grateful for all of you and look forward to being on the journey of transformation with you.

The light in me cherishes the light in you,