
Waking up one day and realizing your world just isn't working for you is the first step into an incredibly exciting new journey. That awakening is to be the first of many. Maybe you've been reading self improvement books and feeling like something is missing. That's a sure sign your life may be changing, especially if you are beginning to question your own spirit.
Have you listened to yourself lately? I mean really listened? Did you hear anything? Maybe your inner voice has been quiet and suppressed for so long it forgot how to speak. Maybe it really has wanted to speak but hasn't been given permission.
Recently I saw the result of a study on one of the prime-time news shows. The study showed that by the time a child is five years old, that child will have been told "No!" over 100,000 times! What are the ramifications of this? Just imagine. A child's only job is to just be who they are. That's it! Can you imagine that if 9 times out of 10, the child was just being him/herself and was told "No."? Eventually the child internalizes this simple word into the understanding that being the self is not okay.
The painful truth is that most of society has been raised this way. What does it mean when this child becomes an adult? That adult is shut off from his/her spirit and is living life according to someone else's rules, limitations, ideas, parameters and belief systems. This adult may be unable to make decisions without consulting others, looking to others to make the decisions for them.
This is where that underlying word "No!" setup the outside authority figure that the adult still looks for today. He/she doesn't realize, and was never really taught, that when you become an adult you also become your own authority figure. That may be an implied belief at 18. "You're an adult now and you have to make your own decisions," the 18 year old is told. This statement, however, does not include the words, "You no longer require our (parents') permission. You are your own authority now." Wow, wouldn't that have been nice if it had been spelled out like that. Unfortunately we take some of that authority and dump it into doing things that we've always wanted to do externally, like drinking, partying and more.
But, how much of that is a rebellion and how much is remembering your spirit and the inner truth of your being? It gives you something to think about.
Maybe you've never rebelled. Many women suffer from the "good girl" syndrome. This may be the worst offender in the case against remembering your spirit and inner truth. The good girl syndrome is so deeply ingrained that the child seemingly lives to please others. Others are the priority, and the self doesn't really matter. In fact, it feels as though the self doesn't even exist. It's been so long since the self had a chance to speak that there is virtually no sense of self left at all. All those times being told "No!" have accumulated into a pliable body, a seeming automaton, a robot who is only here to serve others. Sound familiar?
Is it any wonder why so many people are searching for assistance in this day and age? The book industry is loaded with self-help books. There is a growing discomfort within this world of robots. Like Robin Williams in Bicentennial Man, there is a growing desire within our own lives that makes us stop and say, "Wait a minute, this is not enough for me. I have a voice and somewhere deep down inside of me, I have a self, and it's time I found out who that is."
Being a robot no longer works for us once we have that initial awareness, that one little light bulb that turns on inside that says, "There must be something more to my life than this." That one little sentence begins a domino effect inside, tumbling down the building blocks of denial that formulated the structure of our lives at such a young age.
Once this crumbling begins, it truly is a 'brand new day.' The world begins to look different and feel different. That's because you are different. You asked a question and found a voice. Now is the time to begin the search to find your self. It's in there somewhere, underneath all those denial blocks, limitations, boundaries and belief systems. A self is waiting to be born!
Remember, our parents always did the best they could with what they knew how to do. If they had been raised any differently themselves, then they would have raised you differently, but they weren't. So, there's no blame here, plain and simple. It's just finally time to start breaking the generational family patterning. It starts with you.
Your questioning and questing breaks the chain. You know that once you remember your self, you will pass a new way of being onto your children. As you grow, learn and discover your self, you can't help but share that new expression with others. Remember to welcome your self to this world. Remember that it truly is OK to just be your SELF!
© 2001 Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster is an Intuitive Counselor who assists clients to create extraordinary transformations in their everyday lives. Her work is uplifting, empowering and success-oriented. You can visit Jodie's website at http://www.illuminationsnetwork.com for further information and to schedule a private intuitive session. You can also look for weekly updates to her blog at: http://intuitiveinnovations.blogspot.com
P ublisher's Guidelines: You may freely publish this article online, in email newsletters, or in print so long as the resource box and byline are in tact. Author would appreciate a notification, but that is optional.
AP - Israel resumed its Gaza offensive Wednesday, bombing heavily around suspected smuggling tunnels near the border with Egypt after a three-hour lull to allow in humanitarian aid. Hamas responded with a rocket barrage.
AP - Pink slips are piling higher as companies scramble to cut costs even deeper to survive the country's economic and financial storms.
AP - Pointing with concern to "red ink as far as the eye can see," President-elect Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to tackle out-of-control Social Security and Medicare spending and named a special watchdog to clamp down on other federal programs — even as he campaigned anew to spend the largest pile of taxpayer money in history to revive the sinking economy.
AP - Senate Democrats beat a hasty retreat Wednesday from their rejection of Roland Burris as President-elect Barack Obama's successor, yielding to pressure from Obama himself and from senators irked that the standoff was draining attention and putting them in a bad light. Burris said with a smile he expected to join them "very shortly."
AP - Protests over the fatal shooting of an unarmed man by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer turned violent Wednesday night with windows broken, fires set and train stations closed.
AP - Confronting a grim economy and a Middle East on fire, Barack Obama turned Wednesday to perhaps the only people on the planet who understand what he's in for: the four living members of the U.S. presidents' club.
AP - Rain and high winds lashed Washington state Wednesday, causing widespread avalanches, mudslides, flooding and road closures as the heavy snowfall that has buried parts of the state began to rapidly melt.
AP - The upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama is an attractive target for international and domestic terrorists, but U.S. intelligence officials have no information about specific threats to the Jan. 20 event.
AP - Jeremy Lin scored 27 points to lead Harvard to an 82-70 upset over No. 17 Boston College on Wednesday night, three days after the Eagles upset previously top-ranked North Carolina.
Reuters - At least four rockets fired from Lebanon exploded in northern Israel on Thursday, wounding two people, police and medics said, in an attack likely linked to Israel's offensive against Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.
Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama will call for quick action on a fiscal stimulus package in a speech on Thursday aimed at reassuring Americans that he is determined to stem the economic crisis.
Reuters - A fresh wave of profit warnings and job cuts soured investor sentiment on Thursday after an employment report suggested U.S. job losses in December could be the worst in almost 60 years.
Reuters - In an abrupt switch, Democratic leaders began talks on Wednesday to swear in Roland Burris, appointed by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
Reuters - It took war, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the collapse of some of New York's famed investment banks, but Manhattan apartment prices are finally falling.
Reuters - The case of Ali al-Marri, accused of being an al Qaeda "sleeper" agent and held for 5-1/2 years at a U.S. military prison in South Carolina, will be an early test for President-elect Barack Obama.
Reuters - Accused swindler Bernard Madoff should be jailed for violating a court order by mailing $1 million worth of diamonds, watches and other jewelry to friends and family, U.S. prosecutors told a court on Wednesday.
AFP - Israeli warplanes bombed suspected arms-smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza early Thursday, as diplomats worked to secure a ceasefire in an offensive that has killed 700 Palestinians.
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