City Lights
New year’s resolutions are, culturally speaking, something that are made in earnest, but made with an almost expectation of failure. There are no pressures to fulfill them, in fact, just listen to the radio or turn of the TV over the next few weeks and see how many marketing campaigns are made from them. It makes you stop and wonder, why is it that we buy into this dynamic of failure? It really is not all that surprising.
Culture of Not Good Enough
We are surrounded by messages that we are not good enough and will never be. Stop and think about how many images you see or verbal cues you hear in any given day that tell you, “you will be a better person if . . . ” or “just buy this super duper amazing product and you will be whole.” But the kicker is there is always a newer, better, shinier something that magically makes you “less than.” Just as you were thinking, “now I have it! I’ve lost those 5 lbs, bought the latest gadget, upgraded my system, etc., etc. ad nauseum.”
We are kept in a perpetual state of not good enough. And this does not lay solely in the hands of marketing campaigns. Western medical systems often create a dynamic of doctor as god. We become ignorant of our own bodies, constantly looking externally for knowledge. This also extends to some religious traditions that honor a disembodied existence, constantly eying the next life.
We Have All We Need Now
Every one of us has everything they need right now. You are perfect. Think about that for a moment. I do not mean perfect in the sense of without flaw, but rather, within you, right now, exactly as you are is a perfect knowledge. If only you begin to listen.
Now you may be thinking, “How hard can it be to listen to myself?”
Well, try it.
What are you hearing?
Is what you are hearing genuinely you?
Or is it the ingrained messages of your not good enough.
Radical Empowerment
Embodied within is the knowledge on how beautiful you really are. Embodied within is the perfect knowledge on what you need to be healthy and happy. Embodied within is an ability to connect with your source. This means you do not need anything to be exactly what it is you were meant to be.
All you need to do is learn to listen . . . to your own voice. This is radical because it is completely FREE! You can’t buy it, no one else has the “authority” to tell you what that means. This is radically “dangerous” because it means that we are all our own authorities, which challenges the power so many others have lorded over us.
Be Patient
This is not to say that we need to stop buying gadgets, going to doctors, celebrating our diverse religious traditions. No! Rather we need to find and cherish our own authority first and foremost, before we get consumed by the doctrine of the not good enough. Now consider this: what age are you? This is the number of years of ingrained lessons of not good enough you have learned. Be patient with yourself. Your authentic self has been over shadowed all these many years and like a muscle, it can atrophy without regular use. Give it time to build, strengthen and thrive. We live in a “quick fix society,” however listening requires the gift of patience.
This Moments Promise
So this year, rather than making well intentioned resolutions, make one promise to yourself. Promise to begin listening to your own authentic self. Clear away the clutter of all the external “authorities” and just begin to listen. What you find may surprise you.