Be the best you can be at being yourself. And what does “being the best” entail? It entails being a kind and loving person, compassionate and open to understanding and embracing all other beings as equal. It entails being gracious and giving, eternally grateful for all that you have, all that you are, and all that you receive, even if it is not much. It entails a certain impeccability in all that you do so that you leave nothing behind for others to have to deal with as you make your way in the world. Being the best you can be entails growing up into all of these mature qualities with a mix of grace and humility, even while seeking always to be even better within the self and in the world you inhabit. Be the best you can be, always, for what else really matters? Begin small–just be kind to another person today.
Be patient. Though you may wish to jump ahead into new life it is not really possible, for each step of the journey you are now on is vitally important. The lessons you are presented with each day must be learned. You can’t skip any step, for if you do you will miss valuable lessons that you will need in the future and you will have to stop again and learn them later at some other time. Learn them now as they come to you. Take your time to fully explore and learn as much as you can about yourself and the purpose of your journey. Know that eventually this time will pass and you will be far more ready to receive your future having plodded along so diligently with patience and awareness. Only then will you be able to fully utilize and take advantage of the lessons learned for your own greater good. One of the greatest lessons now being taught is love, love for self and love for others you share the world with. Love, and just how powerful an energy it is, is the biggest lesson of the times you live in. Love, in all of its forms, personal and universal, is very powerful.
Respectfully accept who you are and what you are truly capable of now, even as you continue to strive for perfection, continued growth and exploration, and to reach your fullest potential. Keep open to your heart’s intent and yearning, even as you remain practical, in balance, and concentrated on what the world expects and requires of you; for your own maturity and mastery of the world you live in are crucial aspects of living responsibly and learning how to appreciate what you are given and what to do with it. Your true talents may lie in an as of yet undiscovered or unexplored territory, but your true heart lies close by within you and asks only that you turn to it more often for guidance and that you express your loving self more often throughout your continued quest for wholeness. You never know who you might be in the end, but if you stick to your heart’s innate knowledge, wisdom, and insight you can guarantee that you will be a very loving being. And that’s what the world needs now—your loving self!
To be special warms the heart; to be special tears us apart. Why this contradiction?
Both Carlos Castaneda and his teacher, don Juan Matus, who’s lineage stemmed directly from the Shamans of Ancient Mexico, taught with both humour and piercing seriousness that the greatest scourge of humankind was the need to be special. They pointed to the internal dialogue we all experience that constantly judges everyone and everything, particularly the self, which is judged as either less than or better than everyone else.
From an adaptive perspective those shamans speculated that our ability to make these rapid judgements serves well our ability to survive as we navigate our predatory world. Less benevolently they point to the lion’s share of personal energy that all humans spend grooming and protecting their self importance. This energy is then lost to the evolving human potential, which to access requires a shutting down of the overarching investment we make in feeling and being judged as special.
And yet, feeling genuinely special is thought to be one of the most necessary prerequisites to feeling worthy enough to be in this world and to feeling secure enough to partake of its bountiful opportunities. Hence, the field of mental health places a premium on attachment and the quality of care in foundational relationships in childhood.
Unarguably, the quality of attention children receive in childhood places a powerful imprint on the incessant internal dialogue they will repeat to themselves as they form an identity and strategy for living. A neglected child might become the adult whose internal dialogue incessantly reminds them that they are not worthy to live other than to serve the needs of others and that they should be grateful that they are even tolerated by others.
The overly valued child might constantly be reminded by their internal dialogue that they are superior, really of royalty, entitled to the adoration and respect of the mere mortals that surround them.
The Shamans of Ancient Mexico would argue that the true culprit here is the internal dialogue itself that channels our energy into defining and upholding our self importance, good or bad, for the better part of our lives. Rather than focus on challenging the message of the internal dialogue those shamans encourage eliminating the dialogue itself, which then frees our energy to explore our true innate potential, unbiased by the judgements that usually limit our sense of self.
From this perspective there is no advantage to having had a special versus neglected childhood. Either way we are saddled with the limiting judgements that steal away our vital energy for life. The real culprit is the internal dialogue, the true dungeon master of our lives. Rich and poor alike are saddled with the same enslavement. In fact, it could be argued that a neglected childhood may offer the advantage of seeking versus merely indulging in life.
The question of specialness is at the forefront of our current world fixation. Our world leaders express entitlement for their special interests and needs over and above the needs of others. Truthfully, persons of different cultures and religions share the same attachment to their own specialness over the needs of competing or just plain other groups.
Family, the foundation of a society, is perhaps the greatest perpetrator of specialness. “Blood is thicker than water” is the adage that summarizes this fixation of the internal dialogue. The Shamans of Ancient Mexico considered it crucial to break this fixation in order to free the trapped energy spent upholding it, to then have it available to be employed in the full realization of selfhood beyond the border of specialness.
Their methods to achieve this coup may sound severe, but they actually coalesce with the Buddhist practice of detachment. The shamans call their practice “erasing personal history.” The practice is to separate the special significance afforded family and loved ones, merely because of their family ranking and role, as well as to reduce emotional attachments. While not denying any of the truths of these relationships, the goal is to reduce them to the level of all human experiences, all entitlements removed.
Thus if someone has failed me, I fully face my feelings, but by removing the pressure of my entitlement, due to familial bonds, I am freed to see all my family and neighbors equally. A world where all is viewed equally is the template for the world we are evolving into, despite current appearances!
Freedom from the constraint of specialness is the practice that readies us for a world built on true universal love. Override the internal dialogue that creates hierarchy and special groupings with universal compassion for all beings.
On this one day, when all is new, let your heart be open to the possibilities that a new year holds. Let yourself step into the new era that is just beginning with your heart open to goodness, generousness, and the kindness that are at the core of the human species. Let yourself be the catalyst to change that you wish for, the world over, for who does not want to change the world? Do it with love, the most powerful change agent there is. The world is ready for it! Are you?
-From the Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne
Happy New Year to everyone! Thanks and gratitude for a wonderful year past and a new one to come. We look forward to continuing in 2018 to bring to you the wisdom, insight, and perspectives that come through us as we open to spirit, within and without, and for which we are eternally grateful.
