So often we develop a hunger for spiritual food. By this, I do not
mean food we eat, but spiritual food which feeds our mind and our
spirit. It is wisdom and inspiration which feeds my soul's need
for spiritual food.
Here is an essay on owning your Power which I found in my
manna for the mind file~~
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Own Your Power
Owning your power, your power to be real, to be who you really are,
is really about owning your freedom. Consider how your reasons for
not being yourself may have been to get the love or approval of others.
Then, you have given others the power to decide your way of being, and
thus keeping yourself from being free. In many ways, you have been giving
away your power/freedom by your ways of speaking and thinking, and being.
For example, when you say or think something like, "That person makes
me angry," you have given your power/freedom to decide whether or not
to be angry, to that person. You have said that you are powerless, and
that that person has the power to decide when you will be angry.
You can choose to not do that any more.
It would be more appropriate to say something like, "I get angry when
that person does that." In that way, you get to see that you are the
one that has made you angry, and also that you can decide to feel that,
or something else.
No one but you "makes you" feel angry, or sad, or depressed, or happy,
or sexy, or bored, etc. Since you are now in the process of deciding
for yourself about your life, and your choices, and your actions, and
your feelings, and what you see, why not own your decision-making power
on all levels?
Be aware of the words that you use, because they do form the basis
of your thought patterns. Listen to your words, and notice whether
they reflect your freedom to decide for yourself what you feel or do.
Do you say, "Let me do this," asking for permission, or do you express
your desires by saying, "I would like to do this," or even "I am
going to do this?" Do you say, "That person manipulated me," or "I
allowed myself to be manipulated?" Whatever you have been doing that
has not been working for you, you can choose to not do any more.
Have you kept yourself from expressing what you really wanted to
because of what you thought someone else would think? Then, you have
given control of your power of speech to that person.
You are free, you know. Are you willing to own your freedom?
Have you kept yourself from looking at something or someone because
of what another person might think? Then, you have given your freedom
of choice to see what you want, to that person.
Have you kept yourself from doing what you want because of what
another person would think? You have given away your freedom of action.
You have kept yourself from speaking, from acting, from seeing what was
real for you. Clear vision is related to allowing yourself to be real,
and trusting that - in fact, insisting on that.
In owning your freedom, you must also be willing to recognize others'
freedom. No one gives you your freedom - it's already yours. It's just
up to you to be free. In the same way, you do not give others their
freedom. You may only acknowledge that they have it.
When you do something, others are free to feel about it as they choose.
For you, though, you are just being real, and acting with love and
freedom as your motivations. If you are misunderstood, you can choose
to clear the misunderstanding through communication. It is not necessary
for you to change your way of Being because of the way another feels.
If you choose to change, it must be because it makes sense to you to do
things another way.
In the same way, if another person does something that you choose to
feel not-good about, that's your choice. That person, too, is free.
If the not-good feeling is the result of a misunderstanding, it can
be cleared through communication. Don't assume anything. Ask, and
then know.
If the not-good feeling is the result of attachments you need to
release on your path to clarity and freedom, you can find another
way of thinking and feeling that feels better for you, one in which
you are not deciding what the other person should do differently, but
rather what you need to do differently.
If you expect the other person to change their way of Being because
of the way you feel, then you are wanting to control that person.
If you don't want to be controlled, are you willing to stop controlling?
Perhaps in the past, when you've looked at a situation which you did
not consider optimal, you've decided what someone else should have
done differently, or should do differently in the future. When you
really own your power and your freedom, you do not do that any more
- rather, you only decide what you could have done differently
then, and what you can do differently from now on, in the future.
When you are sincere about this, your thoughts are included in the
process, as well. As long as you find yourself thinking what other
people should do, or think, or feel, you have not totally owned your
power or your freedom.
If you want to own your freedom, are you willing to recognize others'
freedom as well? Then, you also see that you do not make others sad,
but they may decide to feel that way when you do something. You do
not make them happy, either - they choose to feel that when you do
something.
No matter what you do, or say, some people will approve, and others
will not. You have the freedom to decide which people you will be with.
If you choose to be with those who judge you, you may feel like a weed
in a garden, constantly feeling as though you need to defend yourself
and your way of Being.
You can choose instead to be okay with being judged, knowing that
you're just being who you are, and that others are free to feel what
they like about that. They may be judging you by their standards, but
you are living by your own standards. You can also choose to be with
those people who do not judge you, but rather appreciate you for who
you are. You can then feel freer, and more relaxed about being real,
being who you really are. You'll see that you weren't a weed, but rather
just a flower in the wrong garden.
Perhaps in the past you've tended to change yourself, to be someone
different from who you really are, in order to be loved, in order to
get love. If you would like to know that you're loved for whom you are,
then you have to be who you really are, and let that be the image
that's loved.
Love can not be solicited. It must flow freely, and be freely given.
Then, you know that it's real. If you create an image in order to be
loved, and people love the image, you still do not feel loved for who
you really are.
If the expressions of love are solicited, asked for, then you do not
really know that they would be there if you did not ask for them. You
would still not be sure of the love. Notice when the expressions of love
come freely from others, when you're being real. Then, you'll know that
they come because the others choose to express their love, and you'll
know it's real. When you know the love is there, open and feel it.
Sometimes, expressions of love are misunderstood, because we've all
been taught different ways of expressing the love that we feel. The
way some people express their love is sometimes misunderstood as love
being taken away. The misunderstandings can be resolved through
communication, though, so that expressions of love afterwards can be
those which enhance the experience of the person receiving them,
something that feels good for them.
Remember to express your love in that way, too. Express your love in
the way that you would like others to express their love with you, in
a way that results in their feeling good, in a way that you would be
appy to be on the receiving end of. You have the power/freedom to be
who you really are, to be where you really want to be, with whom you
would really like to be (if they would really like to be with you),
doing what you would really like to do. Others, too, have the same
power/freedom.
If you find yourself not honestly able to say, "I love where I am.
I love who I'm with. I love what I'm doing," then something has to
change. You have the power/freedom to make that change.
If it's a situation in which you do not feel happy,
you have three choices:
1. Change the situation. Re-arrange it.
2. Change the way you see the situation.
2. Leave the situation, and find another.
If the situation, for example, is your job, you can change it so
that you're doing something there that's more meaningful for you.
Or, you can look at it in another way that feels better for you so
that you feel happy in it (but it must be real for you). If you do
not do either of these, then perhaps you need to be doing something
different, in a different job, so that you can look forward each
day to spending time and energy there.
If it's your home, does it feel like home to you? If not, re-arrange
it so that it does. Otherwise, choose to see it as really perfect for
you right now. Otherwise, move.
If you really believe that these changes are too vast for you,
that you "can't" make them, you have given away your power/freedom.
It isn't that you are not able to make the changes, but rather that
you have chosen not to. You still have the power to create your life
the way you would really like it to be. You have the power/freedom
to change what has not been working for you, to change that which
has not resulted in your being as happy as you would like to be.
Do you find yourself with people you do not really enjoy being with?
if so, you have given away your power to be happy to them.
You don't have to do that any more.
With clarity, and love.
If you have given away your power, you can take it back.
It's still yours. Own it. Your power/freedom also includes your
choice to change those patterns within yourself that you recognize
have not been optimal, that have been the result of mis-perceptions,
limited ways of seeing.
Your attachments and addictions stand between you and freedom.
When you are free, you are able to decide in each moment what you
would like to do, and what makes sense to do. You do not allow
yourself to be controlled by past programs.
When you are addicted to something, and you don't get it, you
feel not-good. The degree of the not-good feeling shows the degree
of attachment or addiction. You can choose to not give your power
to your attachments, or to the object of your attachments.
Non-attachment is freedom.
It isn't detachment. Detachment is removal of all feelings.
Non-attachment allows positive feelings of joy when you have.
When there's something you don't have, you are able to focus your
attention on what you do have.
If, for example, you are attached to a lobster dinner, and you
don't get it, you are not free to enjoy what you do have. When
you are not attached, you can enjoy a salad, or a steak, and if
you have a lobster, really enjoy it, too.
If you're attached or addicted to a person, when you're with them,
you're spending time worrying about when you will not be with them,
and when they are not there, you spend your time missing them, and
not being present with the people who are with you. That isn't freedom.
You have the power and the freedom to be totally present wherever
you are, enjoying whatever is happening.
Others do not have to change their way of Being because of your
attachments, and you don't have to change your way of Being because
of the addictions of others.
You take total responsibility for yourself, and everything you think,
do, and say - and you acknowledge that others have the responsibility
for everything they choose to think, do, or say.
Do not decide what other people think, or will do in any given
situation, because actually, you don't really know - that's their
responsibility. You just need to examine your own consciousness,
and what happens in it.
Others are free to want what they want, and you are free to say yes
or no to that. It's okay for them to want, and it's okay for you to
not want. In the same way, you are free to want what you want, and
they are free to not want the same thing. When you both want the same
thing, there is free agreement, and then something can happen.
Otherwise, you can agree to disagree, and each of you can find
happiness and satisfaction in your own respective ways.
Everybody is entitled to their own opinion and to their own thoughts
and wishes - and you are free.
Review your movie, the one in which you are not only the star, but
also the director. Be the audience too. What were the effects of
your actions and words? Could you have written a better script
for yourself? If so, what would you have done differently? Could you
have acted with more love, more understanding? Replay the situation
in your mind, doing it differently, and see the different ending.
Decide that if the situation presents itself again, you will replay
it in the new way. Dedicate yourself to the decision. Then, you have
changed yourself for the better, because it was your choice, and you've
learned what you needed to.
You must also realize that things happened the way they had to, with
the chemistry of the people involved, in order to have the result that
needed to happen. Next time, however, you'll be able to achieve the same
result more harmoniously.
Continue to do this until you are honestly able to give your movie
and your character great reviews. If you saw that movie in a theater,
you would have thought it a fabulous movie, with an inspirational star
- you! You would have recommended the movie to your friends, and enjoyed
seeing it again.
Notice what your reasons are for doing things. What are your motivations?
In a given situation, are you making the fear choice or the freedom
choice? Are you doing things because that's what you really choose to do,
or are you doing things (or not doing things) because of fear? Trust
your instincts, and what's real for you, and do what you really want to do.
Did you keep yourself from being who you really are because you thought
you had to, and find out afterwards that you didn't really have to? Then,
the basis for your decision and your action was fear. Make a decision
that you don't have to do that any more. You can be who you really are,
and people will enjoy you even more. When you do what you really want
to do, something wonderful always happens.
Is love your motivation, or is it guilt? Do you do things to avoid
feeling guilty, because you would feel guilty not doing them? Or do you
act clearly, doing what you really want to do, as an expression of love?
If you have been having fear or guilt as your motivations, do you want
to continue that way? You don't have to, you know.
You can make a conscious choice, a deep decision, to not have fear
or guilt or anger controlling your life, but rather to act as a free
conscious Being. When you do that, then from that moment on, if you
discover that your decision to be a certain way, or do (or not do)
a certain thing is based on fear, guilt, or anger, you dedicate
yourself to making a different decision. Then, you are not allowing
yourself to be controlled by past patterns of being or doing, but
really living your freedom.
You really are free. You just have to own your freedom, and be free.
Not only will you feel better and enjoy your life a lot more, but you
will also be releasing patterns which were associated with the impaired
vision. You will truly be returning to clarity.
You're free to think the way you choose, and love the way you choose,
and act the way you choose.
People who love you enjoy seeing you happy the way you really like
to be happy, being the fullest expression of your Being, being real,
being all that you can be. People who love you really want to see you
being successful.
It's up to you, though.
You have the power and the freedom to be real, to be happy, to
be successful, to be fulfilled.
See clearly what is real for you.
And live it.
While we've been taught that it's a good thing to be ourselves
- necessary, in fact - we have also been taught in so many ways that
we have to not be ourselves in order to please other people, and that
it's a good thing to please other people, to make others happy.
Then, it seems to be a choice between making others happy, on the one
hand, and being ourselves, making ourselves happy, on the other hand.
If you have been choosing to not be yourself so that others would
be happy, you have decided that pleasing others was more important
than really being yourself. That was a beautiful expression of your
love, but at a high cost to you, and your ease of Being, and your
health. Ease of Being is associated with health. Not being yourself
requires an investment in energy, which is also known as stress, an
unhealthy element from anyone's point of view.
What makes more sense is to shift your priorities so that being
real is more important- and, in fact, a necessary part of any
healing process.
You can still enjoy expressing your love in any way that works for
you, and yet knowing the importance of being real. Being yourself.
All the time.
With clarity, and love. Own Your Power.
(from Improve Your Vision, by Martin Brofman, Ph.D.)
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A pioneer in vision improvement, spiritual healing, and exploring the nature
of the body/mind interface, MARTIN BROFMAN is the author of the revolutionary
books Anything Can Be Healed - a manual for the Body Mirror System of Healing,
which he developed through his research and experience while healing himself
of terminal illness in 1975 - and Improve Your Vision, showing you how to use
your mind to correct your eyesight. He and others he has trained present these healing tools and his original vision improvement techniques worldwide He has facilitated tens of thousands of individuals in their healings on all levels, including their eyesight. Martin is the founder of the Brofman Foundation for
the Advancement of Healing.
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be happy, be well,
Zoe
-_-