“Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?” ~Rumi
As another year comes to a close, I am astounded that I’m still standing.
So many times I have been knocked down and struggled to get up. So many times I wanted to just give up. So many sleepless nights fraught with anxiety and rage. So many fantasies about eternal sleep.
Then I am gifted with a powerful message from the Great Sphinx of Giza. I am called to her… to lay my hands on her and receive her ancient wisdom….
“REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. When you remember how powerful and precious you are, there is nothing to fear. When you remember your divinity, all feelings of not being good enough, of not being worthy of love will fall away. Stand strong in truth & integrity and know that you are loved, protected and valued beyond measure.”
As I received these words, I broke down and sobbed. I cried for my younger self who endured so much suffering at the hands of others. I cried for all the abuse I inflicted on myself because of the very wrong ideas that sprang from this suffering that told me I am unworthy of love.
I cried for all the years I spent hustling for my worth in doing, doing, doing trying to prove I had value at the expense of my physical and emotional health.
Those lost to their own sense of worth will never see it in another, so spending my life trying to seek that validation from others was a fool’s errand. Our value is inherent…. The choice to hand that power over to another wounded soul seems silly to me now. How lost and misguided I was.
Now is the time for reclamation.
As I reflect on my recent experiences in Egypt, I am profoundly grateful for the powerful message from the Sphinx and the call to courage bestowed upon me.
I am exhausted and overwhelmed but I am clear on my mission and trust that I am fully supported and capable of navigating whatever challenges come my way.
I leave you with these words:
“Go at it boldly, and you’ll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid.”
Today I was despairing over the realisation that forgiving someone, whose continuing actions of general douchebaggery knows no bounds, was simply outside my wheelhouse.
I was then reminded by my gorgeous and very wise sister, Lisa, that perhaps the work is to forgive myself.
Truth bomb! 💣
Of course this needs to come first. If I can’t do this for myself, there is no way I can forgive anyone else.
I must find a way to forgive myself for the part I played in this clusterfu€k of a situation.
For my wilful ignorance… For giving away my power… For trusting someone who is simply untrustworthy… For ignoring all the red flags because they got in the way of what I wanted… For selling my soul for a false sense of security and the illusion of stable ground under my feet… For choosing ease and comfort over courage.
And in the spirit of full transparency, I admit that my fu€king ego liked the status and luxury this new life afforded me.
I was sick of the hustle and the struggle. So I made what I thought was the “safe” choice over the many braver choices available to me.
I could never regret the choice I made, however, as it brought two extraordinary humans into the world that I love and treasure more than life itself.
But the reckoning has come. It’s time to take this sword away that consistently hangs over my head by finding the courage to face the truth that I chickened out.
That I clung to all the carefully constructed lies he told because it was easier than facing the truth, which would’ve required me to leave much sooner than I did.
Instead I chose a superficial life over a more authentic and connected one.
I chose quantity over quality.
So… where to from here?
I guess this public confession is as good a place to start as any.
I know that shame can only live in darkness, in secrecy, so saying it out loud is the most potent medicine I can apply to the oozing wound of distain that has been festering in my heart these past too many years.
They say resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Insanity at its finest!
So there it is. My shame, my sadness, my intense desire to release all the cords of disappointment and betrayal that keep me psychically tied to this poisonous union.
One day soon, I hope that I will find forgiveness in my heart so that I can set myself free.
Only I hold the keys to my liberation.
I once chose the gilded cage and now it is time to choose freedom. To choose trust over fear, courage over comfort, forgiveness over judgement.