TEXT: PRATITI MEUNIER, SOMATIC EXPERIENCING® – TRAUMA HEALING PRACTITIONER, HOLISTIC COUNSELOR, BODY THERAPIST, REIKI PRACTITIONER AND MEDITATION TEACHER
COVER PHOTO: PIXABAY.COM
‘People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don’t deserve them’ ~ Paulo Coehlo
It’s Monday morning, in Italy, near Venice. I’m enjoying my coffee, and Mia sends me a request to write an article for the next issue of RYL: Make Your Idea Alive.
I couldn’t refrain from smiling. It’s funny how Life presents you with exactly the same situation as the one you are working on. It sounds like a cosmic joke! But it tastes more like a precious gift.
‘Your only limit is you’, I sometimes read on FB pages dedicated to self-realization and I do agree with that. I just wonder if other readers truly understand the big truth behind those five words.
If you are like me, it is very possible that you have plenty of ideas, plans, and flashes of genius that push you to find a specific manifestation, to become REAL & ALIVE and you have been trying to make them happen over and over again. Perhaps, all the time, effort, attempts and failures repeated again and again gives rise a sensation in you that no matter how much you try, work and chase your dreams, things are not really developing the way you expected or were hoping for.
And I’m pretty sure, if you are like me, the type who wants things NOW, you have tried to practice and put into action many techniques that promise complete success in 5 weeks, or those 3 minutes a day spent visualizing your shiny complete picture, full satisfy and in abundance. Or even, you just change your thoughts; think positively, so you can manifest abundance, success, and all your dreams will come true and you will be living happy ever in a month.
Personally, I’ve tried plenty of techniques, practices, visualizations and even ‘instant’ recipes to accomplish what was hidden in my being and was yearning to get out and be seen. I had moments of revelation, inspiration, raised serotonin and dopamine levels that made me feel in bliss and expanded. I believed that I had the super power to make it all happen. And yet… everything lasted just a bit longer than a New Year’s fireworks show. And, very soon, the sensation of frustration was back, along with the belief that I would not be able to do it, and things would never happen the way I want them. Does this make any sense to you?
As I have a strong and curious Spirit, I never give up. Many years ago, I started asking myself why this was not working for me. I genuinely wanted to know why.
One of the realizations that I had was that ‘pushing’ to make things happen was not my way, I crashed my head against the wall over and over again, and it wasn’t really working for me, or making any change (apart from a headache!). And a question started taking its shape…
What is it that prevents me from manifesting my ideas and dreams?
The re-examination started from within. The attitude ‘How do I make it happen?’ turned into ‘What prevents me from doing it?’ What stands between me and the specific manifestation?
It has been a long journey within, along with resistance, acceptance, compassion and courage to truly see my own beliefs and limitations, to recognize, own and to be responsible for what I manifest and for what I broadcast into the world… And, primarily, to hear openly what I’m saying to myself.
Now ‘Your only limit is you’ makes a lot of sense.
It is not life that prevents us, it is not the circumstances which surround us, it is the inner world we grow up in (beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, fears, our personality structure, and so on) that can act as our main limitation and prevent us from being who we really are.
What do we do then? Where do we start? How do we get the support?
Before entering into subject, I’d like to mention the words of Brené Brown:
‘Curiosity is an act of vulnerability and courage… We need to be brave enough to want to know more.’
Here we go…
o Stop for a moment, take some time and distance yourself from what is happening.
o Use visualization, if it works for you, and pay attention to how it is to feel in the now your idea alive.
o A bold Inquiry to see what is happening there… Inquiring is an honest and raw investigation, just for yourself, to support a deeper understanding of who we are, how we function in the world, what moves us and, mainly, what stops us. It opens the door to a spontaneous way of revealing the truth. “As I visualize my idea, how do I feel about it? Do I feel comfortable? Do I deserve it? Do I feel the shame, fear or resistance to showing up or being seen?” Remember, this is just between you and yourself.
o Write it down… writing down our inquiry allows us to create some distance, to untie our thoughts and bring some clarity to how things are moving for us, facing our idea or dream. Writing is the most intimate relationship that you can have with yourself… a sacred place where we can explore the mysterious realms of our Being without the shame, guilt or fear; the safe place where we can be a dreamer, where the inside and the outside world can be manifested.
o Ask for support…. It can also be useful to ask the support from a friend, a therapist or whoever makes you feel safe, not judged; someone you trust and to whom you can unveil those hidden areas inside you, knowing that somebody is holding the space for you and is there present for you no matter what. The ground that you will walk may be very new and may take you to a not very known place of vulnerability. Connection will give you the strength to stand there, and the courage to allow whatever you may find there, to arise.
o Owning and taking responsibility… whatever you find there, take the time to recognize it, to see it, own it and take responsibility for it. It doesn’t mean that you have to take it all and accept it all at once… sometimes it is very useful to just take some ‘anesthesia’ and run away!!! But the door is already open, the work has already started, and in your own time, you will visit it again, take a bit more time with what you discover that is preventing you from opening up and showing up.
o Keep your curiosity alive…. Always!!!!
o Be gentle with yourself… start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.
Ultimately, it’s not so much about bringing your idea to life…. But allowing yourself to Live Life!
And as we let our light shine, deeply believing that we are worthy human beings, unconsciously, we are giving permission to others to do the same… Your life matters, your story matters, your idea matters.
‘Stop acting so small. You are the Universe in ecstatic motion.’ – Rumi
