Last night I was out walking mindfully under a blanket of stars and the light went on. I am still attempting to understand the impact of the insight I had. In that moment I understood that my attempts to open myself to more prosperity were too driven by my ego. My inner work has been very productively lately and the practices I am doing seem positive. They were positive but the ego in me was driving them. As I write this I am hoping to provide clarity to myself and to share insights that may be of value to you.
Over the years I have shrunk the impact of my ego on my life. Ego’s impact in your and my life can be seen as:
• The need for the approval of others
• The need to have control
• The need to be right
• The hurry/worry push inside to make things happen
• The fear driven rationalizations that make ok what isn’t.
Shrinking those sneaky ego strategies can happen by shedding some light on them, by becoming more aware that they are operating in your life. The more that you catch these strategies in action the more you can arrest their development. It is best to think of these ego techniques as not bad but more survival. The ego works most powerfully in a void of insight. The more insight and awareness you have the less the influence of the ego. Again ego is not bad, it is more instinctual and protective but lacks the expanded viewpoint of consciousness.
As I write this, I see I am spending more time on the ego issues than on the liberating side of last night’s insightful walk. When I saw the workings of the ego, hidden under the spiritual practice, I immediately felt relieved to see the reason I had yet to create the results I was seeking. At that moment as I remember it now, I then felt the freedom of dropping the ego needs and was totally open to flow of the Stream of Well-Being, the Source of the universe. Let me see if I can state that in another way. When the light came on that the ego was driving my spiritually focused prosperity practices, I could then make a choice to go about what I was doing in a more enlightened way. I am going to try to state this again from a different angle. In the moment of awareness, I saw there was no need for me (ego), instead the Higher Self was allowed to operate. This Higher Self is one with the Source of all creation.
Again the challenge is to put into words what is understood beyond the rational mind. My invitation to you is to step back and see:
• Where the ego is running the show?
• What insights in you are waiting to be understood or integrated?
• How you are getting in your own way?
• What knowing you have that is beyond the rational, maybe more intuitive?
• What is your relationship with your Higher Self?
• What is the guiding force inside of you?
• How are you connected to the Infinite Source of the universe?
• What limiting ideas or beliefs hold you back from living your desires?
• What do you need to do today to set yourself free?
One last thought, there are a few key feelings here that are great guides to let you know if you are on the right track. If you feel joy, aliveness and real freedom, you are definitely on the right track.