“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There’s no one
alive who is you-er than you. “
~Dr. Seuss
In my mind Dr. Seuss ranks right up there with Mister Rogers
and Captain Kangaroo in sage wisdom for the masses. His legacy is one of
compassion, kindness, and of course....authenticity.
Yesterday I spoke of an inner unction or divine anointing
that leads us to greater depths and dimensions within ourselves, helping us to
discover and giving us the courage to be our most authentic self. My goal is to
nudge you toward self-actualization, that is to become actually, factually,
functionally and punctually yourself. My question remains, “Are we living our
accidental selves, that is, who we really are?” Just as the book of Genesis describes
Adam and Eve as naked…authentic…originals…unedited…and VULNERALBLY
themselves and not ashamed, I believe if we cast off the tyranny of
religion for the fresh breeze of a relation or relating with that which is Divine, we
too can stand in the freedom or Eden
of authenticity and grace.
However, as I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post,
authenticity is a practice, a holy habit to be developed, a daily choice and
sometimes chore. Nevertheless, we
must be willing to move out of the shadows of “other people’s opinions” and
walk in the sunshine of our own God-nature. So, do you really care what people think of you? If so, how
badly? Hear this quote from Dr. Robert Holden, PhD, the Director of The
Happiness Project and author of books Happiness
NOW! and Shift Happens!:
“At this level, you
experience an inner shift in which you realize that true abundance is much more
about "being" than it is about "having," "going,"
"doing" and "getting." Here, you discover to your great
delight that your unconditioned self is made of everything you are trying to
find in the world. Joy is your spiritual DNA, love is your original energy and
your true nature is already free. As you manifest more of your true nature, you
naturally experience a life that is rich in every way.”
Yes, and this “level” can be named authenticity! The
authentic self tears away from both self-condemnation as well as the judgment
of others. It focuses on being, which is often a much more private, still, and
personal experience, and less on doing, having, going, and getting, which is
usually a spectacle to prove something to others. See, I believe we all have something
deep inside, the inherent image and presence of the Divine, telling us that we
are worthy….that we count, that we
matter….which is all we really want to know anyway. Nonetheless, because the noise of life can often create a fog
and stuper we mistakenly try to live this eternal significance through the
trappings of deservedness. However,
there’s a difference between deservedness
and worthiness.
None of us deserves
anything. I don’t deserve to have been born in the Western World nor better yet
in the wealthiest nation in the Western World. I don’t deserve to be a male in a patriarchal society thereby enjoying the
privilege my maleness affords me. I don’t deserve
to have made it out of similar situations and life circumstances that have destroyed
others. Nothing about those things speaks to my merit, my achievement, my
hard work and thereby my deservedness. HOWEVER, I am worthy of happiness, love, peace, comfort, forgiveness, acceptance
(not tolerance), beauty, laughter, and goodness. Not because of my own external deservedness but rather my internal and eternal worthiness. Yes, we
all have reasons to complain, but
none of us has a right to! We are blessed
beyond measure and worthy through the brilliant all-encompassing LOVE that is
GOD. This LOVE has made us worthy.
So, we must stop trying
to deserve goodness, for I truly
believe this trying has lead to our compulsive preoccupation with the opinions
of others. Deep inside we know we should be loved, accepted, and blessed, but
too often we try to earn it by looking to material things and external ego and
fear-driven trappings to deserve it. Hence, we become trapped by our trappings.
Unfortunately, we look to education and professions to find our identity. We
look to cars and houses and vacations to prove we’ve arrived. We think a
particular (or any ole) spouse or significant other might finally solidify our
deservedness.
In reality, however, they don’t and they won’t. It’s a
mirage. There’s nothing innately wrong with any of them, but if we look to
these “things” for meaning and
purpose, to prove our worth or to deserve our place in the world, we’ll come
back empty and empty-handed every time. We must “do the work.” Meaning, we must
dig deep into our selves through prayer, meditation, study (yes, read some
books, damn it!), yoga, etc. Ultimately, spend some quiet time with yourself and
do whatever helps you dig deep into the beauty and mystery that is you, to find the buried treasure that is
your authenticity (maybe later I’ll
share some of the techniques I use, in the meantime comment below to let me
know what works for you).
When we walk away from the need to be seen and accepted by
others, we will finally realize that we don’t have to deserve love and
acceptance. We already have it! We are made worthy through the incomparable,
indescribable, insatiable, LOVE of GOD. And dear hearts, that’s enough…making
us enough.
Again, I leave you with the wisdom of Dr. Seuss. “Why fit in
when you were born to stand out?” Don’t get “trapped” by “things” but live out
your most authentic self, empowered by the inherent worth and love of God,
remembering….
This is not the end of your story. Your best days are not behind
you, they are ahead of you. You don’t deserve a thing but you’re damn sure
worthy! So, keep your head up and look down the road for #bigthingscoming!
In Worthiness,
~Ray
NOTE: If you’re new to the site it might be helpful to read
my first introductory post. Also, feel free to post your questions or comments
here and you can always reach out to me on Twitter @raycjordan using the hash
tag #bigthingscoming.
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