Illumination

I was with a friend recently, sharing my excitement about the concept of "Inspiration In Action." I explained the basic premise of employing gratitude, courage, compassion and forgiveness to enable us to leave our past behind and live a more conscious and inspired life. Her feedback was perfect: "I like the idea of illumination" she said. The idea that all of the qualities we need to employ, to live an inspired life, we already possess.

Think of a dark room, now think of that darkness as your mind, where all of your past stories of hurt and challenge reside along with the fear about the future, those experiences have generated. The memories repeat and morph over time, sometimes disabling us emotionally. Now, imagine a candle being lit in that dark room, illuminating your pure and perfect self, hidden in the darkness. Light another candle and another until the room is bright and beautiful. Illuminating our beauty and purity, focusing on the present instead of the past or the unknown future is what some describe as living consciously.

I challenge myself to stay in the process of living an inspired life by illuminating the purity, the beauty and the good. The past is powerless in the face of this light and we are free to be present. The future can be predicted by the thoughts and feelings we have, so to let go of the anxiety and fear produced by past experience is to step into the light instead of staying in the darkness.

Of course many people love to and feel that they need to hang on to their story, asking "who am I without it?" When we identify ourselves by our story, we sell this life experience short for we truly are spiritual beings having a human experience, not the other way around. When you recognize that you are a spiritual being then letting go of or surrendering your story, your ego, is the only way to be truly authentic.

I challenge you as I challenge myself to employ courage to see beyond what we think we "know" and check in with our true reality, here in the light.