Have you ever had an experience in which someone said things to or about you that felt very insulting and hurtful? It’s quite likely that you have had that experience at least once in your life. Can you remember how you felt to be on the receiving end of an unkind tongue-lashing? Do you recall what it is you did to feel better? Or did the event become an injury that still hurts? Did you believe what that person said to or about you, because, perhaps that person was even a friend or someone you had sincerely trusted and admired? If you answered yes to any of this, the next question to consider is this: How well do you really Know Your Self?
Relying on the Opinions of Others
When we get so far away from the wisdom of our own Heart, we tend to feel rather insecure, sometimes even feeding into paranoia. It’s because you haven’t spent time really getting to Know Your Self. The tendency is to talk to friends and ask for their opinions, rather than to withdraw and seek counsel from our own Heart. “Hi Friend, so and so said that I’m this and that I’m that… it hurt my feelings… what do you think? Am I awful? Am I a terrible person? Do I have your permission to disregard what this person said to or about me???”
When you don’t Know Your Self, you start relying on the opinions of others, rather than to go to your own Source and ask for Truth there. How can you trust the answers that do indeed come from within, if you don’t take the time to get to Know Your Self? Are the opinions of others more worthy of consideration than that of your own Heart? Sometimes, yes, it’s important to reach out to others and seek help and advice… but is that always the best place to go first?
Getting to Know Your Self
When you get that nagging feeling – that feeling that something just isn’t right, when you begin to feel insecure about what others think about you, when you feel tempted to go asking other people their opinions about your character, stop for a moment and ask Your Self first. Simply ask to Know Your Self. Your True Self. Seek first your own approval, recognition and validation. You don’t need it from anyone else outside you. Your True Self is always right here in your Heart, simply waiting for you to ask to be Known and Loved.
Take a little time and withdraw – unplug from mass consciousness for a little while. Turn off the television and the computer and the phones and tablets and all the other ways you’re plugged in, and imagine that you’re plugging into your own Heart instead. Place your hands over your Heart center, and breathe into that space. Feel your own Heart. And simply make the request: “Tell me about My True Self. I want to Know My Self. Who Am I?” And then listen and feel. Talk to Your Self – the aspect of you that resides in your Heart – and tell Your Self what happened, how you feel, and then ask for the Truth of it. Bring the darkness to the Light, and allow your True Self to shed light on the situation based on the Truth of Who You Are. Go ahead and cry, because feeling the Love from your Source can feel quite emotional, and let the tears wash away the old residual pain. Let Your True Self cleanse those thoughts and replenish with Truth. You are beautiful, perfect, beloved. Let Your True Self relay this to you, and let yourself feel the Truth of it.
To Know Your Self is to Trust Your Self
The more time you take to unplug from mass consciousness and into your own Heart, the easier it is to deal with things that other people say that would otherwise have felt hurtful. You take less offense, and eventually, none at all. You already Know Your Self – the Real Truth of You – and you begin to trust your own thoughts and words and actions. You stop giving your power and responsibility to others for your sense of worth and approval. It becomes easier to forgive others, and to recognize your own projections based on what gets reflected back to you. You begin loving others more, and accepting them just as they are, without conditions or expectations, because you don’t need them in order to feel good about yourself. You relieve them from the responsibility you had unwittingly put on them for your own happiness. You no longer have to rely on the opinions of others for your sense of direction and purpose. You Know Your Self. Therefore you Trust Your Self, and you stop giving your power away.
Balance
Know why you’re taking some time to withdraw when those times come. Ask yourself, “am I running away from life out of fear of being hurt again?” It’s okay to reach out to others for assistance. Sometimes Spirit works through others to deliver a message to you when you can’t hear it yourself. So after you have withdrawn to contemplate and spend time getting to Know Your Self, go ahead and face the world again. Spend time with your loved ones. With your self-examination you connect with the glue that holds the universe together: compassion. Go out and share that with the world, without fear. Just Be the Love that You Are. And You Are Love. This is what you discover when you Know Your Self.
