This is article 12 of 17 in the Authentic Self Series, to start from the beginning, click > Table of Contents
Kirk: Are there any more tips you wish to give on the step four, “Allowing What I Receive To Be Present?” It seems that the essence of this step is to give yourself the space and permission to allow whatever shows up to be present.
Alana: That’s correct. In this step of allowing, it sounds very easy, but it can really be quite difficult. Here the inner critic voice can come in and bombard us with the “shoulds” and the various expectations can become ignited.
We have a grand opportunity in this stage of discovery to reflect on all the expectations that exist within us; ones that have been adopted from others as truth, as well as the ones that have evolved through conditioning and environment.
A contractive or reflective state is often the precursor to expanding into a state of allowing.
Kirk: I think that the most powerful revelations I have ever had from doing these types of processes is from the information that seemed to come from the so-called darkside.
It was hard to acknowledge some of the things that came to mind; emotions that I could have easily judged as selfish, angry, or bitter. But, as I let them be present and got to know these inner workings that were generating these types of experiences, I found that they weren’t really my darkside at all.
The core intention of these parts of myself was to bring forth values that were just as important as any of my other values. The only reason I would have judged them as my darkside is because I hadn’t done step four in the Discovering Your Authentic Self series. I hadn’t allowed myself to be present with whatever I received.
Taking a Deeper View
An example of this is a miner, rock collector, or gemologist. At first they discover something that on the outside looks like a piece of craggy old rock. But as they are able to investigate further into the craggy rock, they often find a valuable and beautiful gem. So in the same way, discovering and then allowing what once appeared on the surface to be dark (bad, wrong), showed me some very important parts of myself–some new gems.
What kind of encouragement can you offer to people to help them embrace all aspects of their being including what they might feel is their darkside?
Alana: I suggest a person create a “bless you” statement or even a mantra that they can say to themselves on a daily basis.
A couple of examples are:
“Every step I take, and every action I make, is a step on the path to discovery.”
Or,
“I am a loving human being who is here to learn and grow.”
I encourage people to come up with whatever mantra statements reflect kindness, love, and acceptance while pointing to self-realization. Embracing compassion and forgiveness is one of the universal principals that connects us to the truth of who we really are. Embracing the darkside is also about embracing our full spiritual being.
Kirk: Can you shed any light on why many people find it so difficult to allow whatever they receive to be present?
Alana: Yes. People often find it so very difficult to surrender to what they are really good at. They often think that if they did what they really enjoyed, they wouldn’t succeed or they would be irresponsible.
Collectively we are so programmed into thinking that to be successful, life has to be hard! Human nature is so very familiar with struggling. This step will help balance this learned belief and misconception. This is what discovering your authentic self is really about…
…learning how to release the vast amounts of life struggle so one can begin to really understand who they are.
Stepping into one’s authentic nature creates a much easier and less stressful pattern of existence.
Kirk: Very clear. Would you like to move to the next step now?
Alana: Certainly!
To view the next follow-up post in this series, click > Authentic Core Values: Meeting Goals – Developing Talents
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