“When one is a stranger to oneself, then one is estranged from others, too.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Author and teacher Jeff Foster, calls us to reaffirm our attentiveness to the present moment in the following passage, “Remembering who you really are is a subtle shift of attention from a tense present to the present tense.”
There is an aliveness to being grounded in the here and now, we slip out of the intriguing dream of the past to appreciate this moment.
If the past serves as accumulated memories, there can be no depth to our experience of it from our present state of awareness. Yet, if we are alive in the present moment, life materialises in that instance.
The aliveness of our present experience transcends any distant memory we hold on to. It is through this connection of the now that we unlock the gateway to a deeper relationship with our spiritual self.
Many people are oblivious to life’s deeper purpose. Just like mice in a lab experiment, they merely survive to the next meal before their time runs out, lamenting how life passed them by.
Yet it need not be this way. You have a choice to overcome any limitations that are self-imposed or otherwise.
Consider your response to the following:
These are questions to consider if we wish to pay closer attention to our purpose. What themes and struggles have followed you over time, to create the canvas of your life?
Every experience is unique to you because it compels you to evolve, otherwise you stay stagnant.
While it may sound like New Age cliché at a click, the wisdom you seek is contained within you. This is the same intelligence which directs blood supply to your beating heart and regulates the intricate division of cells.
We disassociate from our thinking mind, into the quiet space within to connect with that wisdom. You may call it home, others liken it to returning to a comfortable, yet reassuring presence they never left.
However you experience it, you are the expression of universal intelligence constantly shifting. You were conceived out of love, irrespective of the conditions that supported your birth.
Jeff Foster reminds us, “Remembering who you really are stops you living in suspense, longing for your next holiday, tired of life and waiting for retirement, and makes every day a holiday – a holy day. Which it always was, of course.”
“When one is a stranger to oneself, then one is estranged from others, too.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
I remember with fondness, catching the train to school each morning in my pre-teenage years. I saw office workers clutching the daily newspaper under their arms, expecting the day ahead.
Coincidentally, it was during my ride home I observed those people grappling the same newspaper under their arms, appearing jagged and worn, having been read cover to cover. The paper was symbolic of how they felt working in a dreary job: worn out and listless.
I invite you to stop for a moment in your day to be alive – I mean really be alive in your surroundings. Notice your breathing, your heartbeat, your thoughts which arise and fall to produce the accompanying emotions. This is life functioning as the individual you call “I.”
It is no surprise you are the director and star in your life’s story. Whilst you have a minor influence how the plot unfolds, you have the power to direct the course of your destiny nevertheless, instead of being stuck in your current circumstances.
As a powerful co-creator and through the power of your mind, you set this intention to coincide with your heart’s desire.
“Question: Since you are here to remember who you are, why have you forgotten? Answer: Perhaps you have lived another’s dream and not your own,” states author Rusty Berkus in his book To Heal Again.
What if this life is a dream, a very real dream? What if you were to awake from this dream to realise you haven’t really lived or worse still, just survived?
I am reminded of the uplifting Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem which invites us to acknowledge our power to create a wonderful world, “What if you slept? And what if, in your sleep, you went to heaven and there plucked a strange and beautiful flower? And what if, when you awoke, you had the flower in your hand? Ah, what then?”
To honour our inner wisdom is the core of our spiritual evolution. We reconnect with our authentic nature by honouring the values which point us toward our true self.
As we abide by these values, we awaken our genius, our potential and the willingness to see through the lingering fog of confusion. We never disconnect from our source of knowing, rather we lose our way back to it.
There is a salient undercurrent which simmers beneath the surface of human-kind. This mysterious energy is unassuming and yet is known when you meet somebody who leaves a lasting impression on you.
Some are fortunate to connect with this spiritual energy during their lifetime while at the same time accomplishing their deepest desires. For others who stray from their spiritual self, it heralds the path back home.
“However, every moment is an invitation to remember, that although the waves of consciousness may rise and crash, in the Ocean’s depths lives the deep peace and silence of yourself. Silence, and knowing,” affirms Jeff Foster.
I encourage you to surrender labels, ideas and beliefs of who you think you are. This is a formed image that keeps you safe in the world. You don’t need this persona anymore than you need reading glasses when your eyesight is 20/20.
Life leads you to discover this unyielding Self by guiding you to honour the foundations of your unlimited potential.
To remember who you really are requires a subtle shift from struggle, worry and anxiety to being surrounded by the richness of the present moment.
Who we are is contained within those pockets of tiny moments, interspersed throughout our life. If we are not completely aware of them, they pass us by at the drop of a hat.