It is no doubt that we are living in such a turbulent, chaotic time. When the tragedies of the world seem overwhelming we have a grand opportunity to turn on our inner light and feel so we can reveal why these things are happening. My goal with my new book Return to You is to help readers find safety in the face of uncertainty, and purpose when they are otherwise in pain. Today I share an excerpt to help you find more peace.
“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.” ― Albert Einstein
If you believe we live in a hostile world, your inner world will be a battlefield. As you fight, resist, and push against what is, you exhaust yourself in the expression of living. But if you see the world as a friendly place, one of abundance, joy, opportunity, one of fear and hostility, or one of love and friendliness. When you feel safe, you are creative, and you’re able to express yourself, you are choosing to live in a friendly universe. But when we are in angst, worry, or fear, we have chosen to see the world through the lens of hostility. Our war against the world and our war within ourselves is about safety. Do you feel safe in this world? Safe to be who you really are—safe to be seen, heard, expressed, acknowledged, understood? The manifestation of all of our imbalances comes back down to a fundamental human need: safety and acknowledgment. This is why the invitation to explore more deeply into the shadow sides of our life and look at where we feel unsafe by bringing in even more love is so important.
Love knows no bounds; love and light are within you always, and your healing requires a releasing of all the burdens you carry. Our ego has convinced us that it is not a safe world. If we haven’t allowed ourselves to trust the Divine or receive peace and serenity, then we can’t share it. If we haven’t allowed ourselves to receive love, then we can’t give it. Our inability to receive blocks us from feeling inner peace.
The war we are all fighting is a silent battle within our own mind against ourselves. We build an impenetrable fortress. No hurt gets in, but no love gets in either. Fortresses and armor are for those in battle, or who believe the battle is coming. If we are honest, on some level, we are all at war with ourselves. As we live in a world of such chaos, the contrast presented fuels this inner dialogue and back and forth. We aren’t born hating ourselves and resisting life; we learn it. The war with self is given to us by society, systems, programming, and ancestral karma. Our parents unknowingly pass beliefs down to us, or we witness injustices and trauma out in the world, and we want to do more, but we feel hopeless. The war wears many hats. Although the outside world may seem chaotic it is actually our inner world that is usually in the most chaos.
I’ve come to learn that the battle all of us are really fighting is the war within ourselves.
It’s the battle that says:
- I want to follow my heart but don’t want to fail.
- I want to express myself but worry I won’t fit in.
- I want to do more to help those in need, but I feel helpless.
- Who am I to go after what I love when others are suffering?
- I don’t feel safe, but I will pretend everything is okay.
- I am ashamed of how I look, so I will hide myself from the world.
- I don’t want to be a burden, so I will stay quiet.
- I want to eat what I love but it’s considered bad for me.
- I can’t slow down. I need to prove myself, but I am exhausted.
- I hate being in control of everything but if I let go I won’t feel safe.
- I have an opinion I want to share, but what if no one understands me?
Every single one of us has built some type of protection around ourselves. The walls and masks inevitably keep love away. This is a trauma response. The good news is, trauma that is acknowledged is trauma that can be healed.
- You are worthy of having support.
- You are worthy of being seen.
- You are worthy of love.
- You are worthy of having your heart held, nurtured, seen, and understood.
- You are worthy of being cherished.
- You are worthy to receive.
- You are worthy.
- You don’t have to earn it.
- You don’t have to prove it.
- You don’t have to bargain for it.
- You don’t have to beg for it.
- You are worthy. Simply because you exist.
You can repeat this mantra by Monika Muranyi: “I am willing to accept the perfect love of the Creator.” Repeating this mantra daily will help you shake down the walls that have been built up around your heart. When we stop pushing, trying, controlling, manipulating, resisting, fighting, and arguing against the world and ourselves, we can relax into the moment and allow ourselves to be. When we rest in the moment, silence steps in. In the space of silence is truth. Give yourselves permission to receive love—love from the prime Creator, divine love, love to ourselves from ourselves—and make light from the world your focus.
When we commit to staying open to love, even in the face of our own pain and of the world or when we want to shut down, we see in this moment that we are safe and there is nothing to be afraid of, ever, for love is the true protector and where our safety lies.
Questions to ask:
- What battle within myself am I committed to healing?
- Do I believe we live in a hostile or friendly universe?
- What do I want to release?
- What am I ready to receive?
