1st The Bad News

Enlightenment will never come TO you. No one or thing or place or service will install or instill enlightenment for you. 

Now the much, much, much better news…

Enlightenment comes FROM you. 

There is a place within you, where your personal power resides, that is all-knowing and self-loving.

The question I try to answer each day is can I let go enough to find a sliver, a glimpse or moments of that rich, elusive but enlightening connection? 

Why and what do I want to let go of? 

Letting go of self-imposed expectations, responsibilities and others` opinions enables me to drop my shoulders and relax into my authentic self.

Once relieved I begin to feel freedom. I challenge myself to let go of the person others perceive me to be.  And I find freedom in letting go of the person I see as myself. Freedom leads to the path of enlightenment.

On this path I find precious possibilities. I reach for change. I feel hopeful. And most of all... peaceful.

That's where personal power lives. I'm learning to treasure this place and the feelings this place manifests. This place does not come to me, it bubbles up in me. When I'm there, outside forces cannot affect me.

This peacefulness is not tied to my job or my title or even my ego. It's not outsourced. It's insourced. Thus- we all have this same power! 

Why try to fit in when we were born to stand out?
_{- Anonymous}

There is no fine line between being in your personal power and infringing upon others.

You must divorce yourself wholly from the energies, preferences and dictates of others for your personal power to surface. Once allowed and accepted it, you, grows beyond previously established boundaries. 

The only important opinions and feelings connecting you with your personal power are your own. 

It is in that place of self-acceptance that we heal. We surrender to something so much greater than us. You'll feel connected to an imperishable source. That formless force teaches me that it's natural and right for me to be me. 

Without effort, decisions come from a less cloudy, less busy, less cognitive place. Right actions follow.

Others' energies have loved and supported and hated and suppressed me. They've held me tight and beat me down. If you're like me, you dwell in the belittling stories and thoughts and feelings that keep us stuck. Feelings that came to me at the dinner table as a kid or my bedroom as a toddler are still with me. Holding me back.  

If I let them.  

Letting them go and being present is personally powerful. 

We can choose to accept those feelings of ridicule or inferiority or shame or neglect or abandonment or guilt as real. Or see them for what they are- thoughts that have become engrained and developed into a belief system. They are my story or your story. His or hers. But they are history. 

Why not create a new story? Why not work on relinquishing disempowering beliefs about your life?

Yes, it's work but…

Those beliefs are NOT you. Unless you give them meaning, they have no power. They can be taken out with this evening's trash. Or just shed with no harm to the environment at all. 

There's no better time than the present to let go of/ get rid of your depressing personal narratives!

I do not know anyone that would not benefit from freeing themselves of uniquely personal, unhealthy baggage. One thought at a time… That's where your personal power and your truth resides.

Your personal power is within you, but so are your self-limiting beliefs. The more conscious you are of your internal dialogue, the more your personal power is revealed. Don't let the stress-inducing thoughts that pop up trigger or scare you. We're all coping with the same internal challenge! 

Being aware of the alternative power source is the first step. 

Being stuck in problems you used to have enables negative energy. Even though mine have built up over several decades, now I see those same habituated thought patterns as superficial and fruitless. Once you have awareness of those patterns and move your focus to a positive thought you're on your way to freedom. 

Pick any personal vision or dream or wish or prayer and amplify it! Magnify that which you are passionate about and put the work into that story that you create from your personal power.

That's where hope lives. That's where trust swoops in, douses fear and fills you with faith. 

Then spirit emerges and prospers and dominates. 

You can choose to stop limiting thoughts from impacting your overall state of mind. Let the truth within you flourish. Be in love with the you no one else needs to know about.