DEAR FRIENDS- Everyone on Planet Earth is searching for a lasting sense of inner peace and security. I have observed that consciously or unconsciously deep inside all of us is an anxiety about the future. If we are completely honest with ourselves we can sense the tension of this fear in our bodies and observe it in our recurrent worried thoughts. Many of us go our entire lives without ever being free of this Master Thief which steals our precious inner jewels of peace and happiness. But I swear to you that this need not be your condition and your fate!
We all need- and deserve!- that primal feeling of "Ahhhhhhh.... I can finally rest.... no matter what happens all will be well." What would it be like to experience that kind of peace- moment-to-moment, day-to-day- for the rest of your life?
You can- when you understand what it takes to awaken this inner state of grace.
We are trained to believe we can finally feel at peace and safe by achieving outer salvations- money, possessions, status, friends and a soulmate. We spend all our time, our energy and and our attention- our entire lives!- to gain them and with their apparent solidity build a fortress against our fears.
All of these external treasures are great blessings but when we have exhausted ourselves in our search for them- either achieving them or not- we are dismayed to find that inner peace still eludes us. Deep inside we sense that we are still afraid!
Why is this inevitably so? Because external conditions don't change a single thing about what actually makes us feel at peace- deep in our bodies and in our heart of hearts! That state of grace only- and surely- grows from UNCONDITIONALLY LOVING AND ACCEPTING OURSELVES.
I often use the analogy of a mother and child to awaken people to why this is true. And to help them get a taste what it feels like.
Imagine a mother and daughter who are living in materially humble conditions. Money is scarce, they don't have many things that other people have, but nonetheless they are happy day-to-day.
Picture the mother as a warm and caring woman who unambivalently loves herself and is full of the joy of life. She radiates the strength, wisdom and complete aliveness of Mother Nature. She has no inner conflicts and is completely at one with all of her body, emotions, instincts and desires. Because she instinctively trusts and accepts everything within herself she naturally feels that way toward her beloved child.
There is nothing in the emotions and instincts of her daughter that she mistrusts or needs to control. This avatar of Mother Nature has a heartfelt smile for everything in her daughter's Real Self. Anger, sadness, the longing for love and holding, willful self-assertion, animal wildness and innocent sexual feelings- all are validated as perfectly natural. The child grows up with no guilt, no shame and no doubt about her natural instincts and spontaneous self. With her mother's open-hearted "mirroring" of her authentic self she feels absolutely secure and at peace with everything she IS. Her mother's utter faith in her- and in life- is unshakably rooted in her body, mind and spirit.
With this foundation of pure validation the child's essential happiness- her basic trust in herself and life- remain through all the external circumstances she and her mother experience. What is the pale solace of money compared to the joy and security of unconditional acceptance and love? Money comes, money goes, things change- but her ability to take pleasure in life always remains. And the trust in life and herself she internalized from her mother continues to live within her when she leaves home and goes off on her own. There is a voice that always whispers to her from the core of her being: "You are totally accepted and completely loved."
With that voice in her body, mind spirit and heart she will always feel happy and retain her faith in life. Because when you are unconditionally loved it feels good to be alive regardless of what is happening externally!
Now compare this constant "inner message" of total self-love and faith in life- which we all need and deserve- to the shame, guilt, self-doubt and worry that almost all of us struggle with in some way. I say that you CAN have an "inner revolution" that releases self-rejection and awakens unconditional self-love! Due to the current state of culture, society and religion- which have deep gaps in their grasp of the emotional needs of children and unconditional trust of all we are as human beings- very few of us had the Unconditionally Loving Mother I described above.
So to gain the faith, inner peace and security we all need to truly enjoy life we must grow this self-affirming voice within ourselves. By fully connecting to and validating everything inside us- our full range of passion and emotion, the joy and aliveness of our bodies, our magnificent strengths and talents, our deepest desires- and all of our love- our fears are washed away and we return to the core of trust that we had when we were born. In this state of grace we are forever in the loving arms of Mother and of Life- whatever changes come and whatever we go through on the road of living.
When you love and believe in yourself you are happy. And you know that all is well- and all will be well. Makes sense? LOTS OF LOVE- BRYAN
P.S. Two extremely powerful practices to awaken your unconditional love for yourself are "THE FOUR DECLARATIONS" and "AWAKENING YOUR "INNER MOTHER". They are both on my Timeline