Day 78/466 days Towards Self-Mastery. Mood: tired.
Have you ever wondered how you came to be the person you are? Have you considered what shaped your decisions and the direction of your life?
Maybe you can remember one event that shaped the way you think about life, or about the world and how safe it is or how competent you are?
Does it really happen that way. One event that shapes your life. I'm sure it must for some people. We are all so different and there is so much variety in the human condition.
Sarah is suggesting today that we awaken our sleeping beauty.
I'm hesitant with this conversation. For starters the things that shaped my life weren't one event or even 2, but a long process of conditioning and attachment problems that shaped my direction and the lens through which I saw life.
Think back over your life and find that one significant event that has such a big impact that it changed your life.
The sort of traumatic changes or perhaps joyful events that occurred in our earlier years can shape our lives and drive our choices. Maybe it was a bullying event, or an accident. Perhaps we got ourselves into a situation that was difficult and dangerous. Or perhaps we had a great and unexpected success.
When we look back we can often see the benefits of that shift. At other times it's not so easy to find the silver lining.
Who would you be today if you hadn't followed the path you did, when that event changed your way of looking at the world.
This sort of self reflection is valuable work to consider. These events are in often in our implicit or procedural memory, deep in our subconscious mind. They often become our life theme.
The world is not a safe place therefore I must...
I am not safe therefore I should...
I am not loveable because...
I am always wrong because...
No one values me when...
There are as many of these themes and variations on these themes, are there are humans on this planet. We all have our own take on these types of stories and the circumstances from which they emerged.
Untangling these stories especially if we now find that life is not working for us as well as we'd like it to, is the work of good therapists. Don't hesitate to use one if you are serious about making life better for yourself.
Much of my inner reflection work I have done alone, yet recently with therapy as a requirement of my study programme, I have shifted some very deep beliefs that I would not otherwise have accessed. So good. Such great progress.
Go well with this. If you are still with me at day 78 then you are serious about your inner work and your progress towards self-mastery. Congratulations. Keep going.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.