Step 2- Bridging the Gap

Photo

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” – Viktor Frankl

By this time in our inquiry we are hopefully beginning to be aware of and question those habitual beliefs that keep us stuck. By now we may even  begin to notice the gap, that space between a stimulus and our reaction. It may be a millisecond of time but it is in that tiny void of the present moment, in that gap pf possibilities where we can choose to react differently. Being mindful of it’s presence is why we practice awareness of our beliefs. This is why we question their validity. This is why we challenge our memes and habits. This is why we continue to return to the present moment and not our history. We are ever seeking to get in the space between a stimulus and our response because that space sets the course for the moments to come. From moment to moment we can choose to change our reaction.
 This week we go deeper with our questions as we quest to bridge the gap, between habit and change and proclivity and freedom. That is what all this questioning is for.
 Time to wake up.

Are your thoughts is alignment with what you want to create?
How do you react, what happens, when you believe the meme? Do you feel angry, horrified, resentful? Does your back start to hurt or your neck tighten up? Do you get depressed, do you feel powerless? How much of your life is based on a certain belief? Who are you with that belief? Do you find yourself berating yourself, calling yourself names, taking your anger out on those around you? The thoughts or beliefs that create any discord in our lives are not coming from a place of soul strength and they are not serving you on the path to change. Really getting this point was profound for me because I realized no matter how “right” I thought I was, no matter how justified, or how real my memes seemed, it was always MY CHOICE to believe  them.

"Now, having seen the differences between where you are and where you want to be, begin to change—consciously change—your thoughts, words, and actions to match your grandest vision."
 Neale Donald Walsh

Benjamin Miller Photo

When we believe we are in a place without choices we are victims. We are powerless. And we cannot find the space to change. We keep trying to solve the same old problem with the same old solutions. It’s like walking the same path over and over and wondering why it never gets you where you want to go. So “how do you react when you believe that thought” is such an important question because it gives us a clue about what isn’t working and empowers us to make new choices about the direction of our lives. Why choose to align with a belief that reinforces our powerlessness, our despair, our anger our resentment, our lack? We cannot change something in our lives if we believe we can’t. We cannot change something in our lives with the same thoughts and beliefs that created it. The fact is, we can take our power back at any time by choosing to believe differently. Why choose to believe any thought, let any thought into our reality, that isn’t empowering? If we want peace we must let go of all need to be right. If we want health we must let go the beliefs of illness. If we want success we let go of the belief we can ever fail.  You have a choice, a crossroad of consciousness, between a stimulus and a response.  Pick the belief  that puts you on the path that is taking you in the direction you want to go. Pick the belief  that leads to freedom and you bridge the gap.

“The Divine Plan is one of Freedom. The inherent nature of man is ever seeking to express itself in terms of freedom, because freedom is the birthright of every living soul.”
~ Ernest Holmes

Which takes us to the next question….


Who would you be without that limiting belief?
Would you be free if you didn’t  judge yourself? Would you be content if you didn’t stress yourself out? Would you be at peace if you didn’t choose conflict? Would you feel love if you weren’t in fear? Can you find one good reason to keep the belief that isn't serving you ? Think about it. Why even, for a second entertain the belief “I’ll never get rich doing that”. Because without that thought you‘d have the experience of money or at the very least be on your way.  Without the belief “I always get sick around Christmas”. You’d be healthy this Christmas. In Huna there is a principle called Makia, which means, "energy flows where attention" goes. In very real terms we animate our beliefs with our vital energy, with every thought we send a prayer. We know every belief has the ability to create what we want or don’t want in our lives. So we must embrace the beliefs that free us from what we don’t want and the path of change will emerge under our feet. In that space of choice we realize when we change the belief (cause) we change the effect.

But, so often though we hold ourselves back.

“When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flown at it to hold it back from flight.”
~ James Joyce Quotes

Why is that we limit ourselves? In many ways we fear owning our own worthiness, our own power, our own authentic expression. We seem to live in a culture that denies the authentic expression of self. Ever get a compliment and feel like apologizing? I have. So, to really change we must be willing to commit to see yourself as worthy of change. To be worthy of a life of authentic expression, abundance, peace, and divine expression.

How?

Photo

We must ask for and accept help because we are worthy of it

Giving up our idea and facade of control is scary, thus so is asking for help. But it is the false self, the ego self, that is believing our story of fear. Wayne Dyer has called the ego- “edging god out” and when we are in alignment with our ego selves that is exactly what we are doing, we are edging out our very divinity with our facade of
control. In that space between stimulus sand response where the choice emerges we can continue to listen to the ego self or choose to tap into the river running through us that is soul not reason, truth not ego. It is our sacred right to have access to our own divinity. But we so often we forget to ask and then we forget (or choose not to) listen to the answer. We are so busy thinking about what we think should happen, how it should happen, worrying that it won’t happen, and what we are going to do after it does or doesn’t (edging god out). At any moment we can remember we are worthy of help and  choose to listen to our innate wisdom. We can trust it as we let it lead us forward. The answers we find may not “make sense” to others or even ourselves. We may not like what we find, what our teachers tells us, but it is what we must do to feel whole, to heal. We may be asked to re-evaluate those things in our lives that have defined us. Our jobs, our relationships, our roles. Because that part of us connected to the river of truth  cares only for truth not aesthetics.


“What I am actually saying is that we need to be willing to let our intuition guide us, and then be willing to follow that guidance directly and fearlessly“. -Shakti Gawain

In accessing our innate wisdom for guidance we acknowledge our hallowed worthiness.  And when we choose to follow the guidance of our inner lighthouse we tend to not notice the stones under our feet or the incline of the path ahead. Suddenly, when we are walking the path of sacred worthiness we are inspired. And when we are inspired we infuse that space of choice, that gap of possibilities, with grace.  Teachers, coincidences, synchronisities, appear in our reality in amazing and miraculous ways. Because when we ask for help we are opening  to new ideas, and new experiences. We are declaring we are worthy of a transcendent life experience.We are allowing rather than excepting and  trusting rather than controlling. Lasting change cannot be forced it must be relinquished.  We can only find permanent change by no longer believing, or aligning with the stories, thoughts, and habits that keep us stuck . When we let go of what no longer serves us and align with our true nature we no longer get lost in the minutiae of our problem. We allow the lighthouse of our soul to show us the way home.

“It’s easy to act as if you are a weathervane, always changing your beliefs and words, trying to please everyone around you. But we were born to be lighthouses, not weathervanes. Imagine a vertical axis running through the center of your heart, from your deepest roots to your highest aspirations. That’s your lighthouse. It anchors you in the world and frees you from having to change directions every time the weather shifts. Inside this lighthouse there is a lens and a light. The light represents who you are when nobody else is looking. That light was meant to keep shining, no matter how dark or stormy it gets outside…when you find that light inside you, you will know it. Don’t let anyone else dim it…and one more thing: remember to look for the light inside others. If at first you can’t see it, look deeper. It’s there.”
~ Robert Coope