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achieving self-empowerment:
Moving Beyond Illusion
by Nedda Wittels
As above, so below.
As within, so outside, also.
The world reflects my inner self in every
situation.
"Why is this
happening to me?" we ask, plaintively, as if we had nothing at all to do
with it. We live in a society in which we are encouraged to blame
others for nearly everything. It is isn't our parents' fault, it
must be someone else's. Sometimes, though, it is best to take a
look into a mirror and realize that there are no coincidences and that
the Law of Attraction is drawing all of our experiences into our lives.
The world we think of as outside of us,
the "physical" reality, is actually a projection of our belief systems
and our feelings and emotions. Even when we are not conscious
of what we believe or what we are feeling in a given moment, it is
influencing not only what we experience, but also how we interpret any
experience. Then we take that interpretation and call it "reality."
Everything we each see, hear, feel, touch, smell, and experience is a
reflection of what is within us. We create our own reality.
We do this consciously and unconsciously.
If this is true, then wouldn't it be
wonderful to take conscious control and create only that which we choose
to have in our experience?
To
take charge of our lives, we have to go within and become intensely
honest with ourselves about ourselves. When we start
accepting that whatever comes to us comes because we have attracted it
with our thoughts, beliefs, and feelings, we can take charge of our
lives by taking charge of our thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.
Usually,
we want to "fix" other people and the outside world.
But, truly, we cannot change anyone but our self. If you are
unhappy with the behavior of another and you try to get that person to
change, you are likely to be in for a struggle you cannot win.
Are
you at war within yourself? Do you feel peaceful when you think of
conflicts in the world? Do you want to forgive or to take
revenge? If you feel conflict, you are contributing to the
conflict.
Do you love yourself? Jesus is
quoted as saying, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." If you don't
love yourself, how will you love anyone else?
Do you honor and respect
yourself? Until you do, you will not truly honor and respect
anyone else.
What are your priorities? Do you
actually live by those priorities? Do you expect everyone else to
share your priorities?
Do you put
convenience above the environment when making practical decisions?
For example, do you rearrange the natural world (trees, flowers, earth)
without thinking about the impact on the environment?
Are you "walking your talk"?
Have
you ever noticed how there may be someone in your life who makes you
"crazy" or angry or whom you just can't stand. Think
- what is it about that person that push your buttons. Does
he or she remind you of yourself? Be honest, now. Do you now
or have you ever done similar things?
If you are intensely honest with
yourself, you will probably discover that the very characteristics
and/or behaviors of this individual which upset you the most are also
your own. You can, of course, deny that there is any truth in
this. However, I have seen the pattern in my own life over and
over again. Even if this individual leaves my life (whether it's
someone at work or at home or at the barn), someone else with the same
annoying characteristics or behaviors will soon show up in another area
of my life. Since I cannot change anyone else, I must resolve the issue within myself.
Once I do that, people reflecting these will disappear from my life or
just stop being that way.
Resolving
the issue is not easy. Here's what I'm working on right now.
I have two female cats who have lived with me for the last four and a
half years. One is Violet, a blue-point Siamese. She is very
sensitive, demanding, controlling, fast-paced, intense, and very, very
smart. She knows how to get what she wants from me. I am
completely wrapped around her paw. Sakkara, on the other
hand, is patient, sweet, slower-paced, and very laid-back. Each of
these beings has some characteristics which she shares with me, and
others that are different so that I can choose to use them as a model
for new behavior. This also includes areas of health and even
physical appearance.
I
recently rescued a male kitten who was dumped in the area where I live
last fall. It was evident to me that he didn't know how to hunt,
since I discovered him eating bird seed under my bird feeder. It
took 6 months to catch him, but now he's indoors, living in an upstairs
room - his safety zone. I call him Sandy.
Violet
and Sakkara both were opposed to having Sandy stay here, but I felt very
strongly from the moment I saw him that he's supposed to be
here. I have been determined to allow him to stay.
However, that means he has to be integrated with the two female cats,
neither of whom was enthusiastic about the prospect. Sakkara will
probably go along with keeping him if Violet accepts, but Violet has
been strongly resistant to the prospect.
Sandy
has been in the house now for 3 months, and Violet shows only small
signs of accepting his presence. Although no one has injured
anyone else during their interactions, which are filled with hissing,
screaming on occasion, and lots of mad running back and forth, only the
smallest amount of progress towards "peaceable kingdom" has
been made.
When
I looked at this situation as external to me, I saw Violet as the
problem, as uncooperative and defiant. Of course, this didn't
please her at all, and made her even more resistant and upset.
When
I asked myself, "How does this situation reflect aspects of my
inner self?" I discovered that the male and female energies within
me do not readily accept each other or work together
cooperatively. They don't trust each other. Each sees the
other only negatively and does not find anything positive about the
other. I made a list of how each sees the other, and was amazed at
what I discovered. Not only did it parallel Violet and Sandy's
interactions, attitudes, and feelings, but also reminded me of how I saw
my own parents, the models for "yin and yang" within me while
I was growing up. Of course, on a deeper level, I recognize that
how I saw my parents is also a reflection of my own inner stuff, but we
won't go there today.
So
to "walk my talk", to get the result I want, i.e., a peaceful household
with Violet, Sakkara, and Sandy all lying together grooming each other
lovingly, I need to resolve the conflict between the yin and yang within
myself. This kind of work takes time, courage, and determination,
but I can already feel a shift in the cats as I make the decision to
address this and begin exploring my inner belief systems that they are
so generously reflecting for me.
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