Awakening Your Inner Hero: Are You Really Mad at Me?

I’ve been writing this “Inner Heroes” column for 20 years now. In my 80^th year, it has become clear to me why this is so important. My life’s purpose is to learn and teach ways to increase our Light.

Each of us is here for important reasons. As we identify them, and take time to realize we have a purpose, there is a shift. We are not here to simply survive, to have a good time, to make a certain amount of money, to jump from app to app…

I have not always been aware of my purpose. And I certainly have not always done it. Sadly, both consciously and not so consciously, I have dimmed plenty of light along my way, and I am deeply sorry for this.

How can we make our world a better, brighter place for all of us and for future generations?

As we move forward today, simply put into you mind and your heart, your key purposes for being here. It takes guts to name them and steadily keep walking towards them.

The human mind too often dwells on the negative. It’s a biological survival mechanism. Every animal has it. We must spot danger in order to survive. If there is not danger, we too often make up false stories or return to old traumas, either ours, our parents’ or our worlds’. It is a biological pattern but we can, and I deeply believe we should, decrease their impact on our daily lives. Every false, negative thought impacts way more than just the thinker!

Just recently an old buddy called me up out of the blue. We hadn’t connected for nearly five years. I love this guy…and I truly believed he had written me out of his life for something I believed I did.

I saw his name show up on an incoming call and couldn’t believe it.

“Hi, Wyley” I answered.

“Hi, Burt” he replied. “I really have missed you and have been wondering how you’ve been doing.”

I was shocked. “Wyley, were you mad at me for writing that story in the newspaper?”

“No!” he quickly responded. “I liked it.”

For five years I absolutely knew Wyley was ticked off at me. It was a blessed 2 x 4 slammed into my thick head. I finally realized that I make up “Wyley” stories all the time!

And it’s time to stop!

Here is a daily practice that I would like you to try. I have been doing it for a while now and it has significantly decreased the impact of the negative noise and helped focus on the Light:

Step #1 is simply to slow down, take some gentle breaths and develop an awareness when one of these negative critters shows up. Here are some common ones. “(S)he’s mad at me.” “I really screwed up.” “There is nothing good going on in the world.” “I’m a loser.” We have tons of them. They are all toxic. The majority are lies or they are completely out of our control. So why give them so much of our precious time and energy? Also, if you need to verify if someone is upset with you, ask them. If you can fix it, great. If not, somehow learn to let it go. Get some help when you need it.

Step #2 is the blessing of our negative thoughts. Remember, we are talking about thoughts that pull us down and away from the Light. They hurt us and we too frequently get accustomed to their toxic presence. Now, when you notice one of these critters, thank them and go immediately to a gratitude. We all have many of them. Too many to ever be able to count. For life, for our sun, water, our food, our trees that provide air to breathe, for music, for friends, for…it is an infinite list.

Go to your blessings. Go to love, wherever it may be. Soak it in. Our negative thoughts and feelings become a signal to return immediately to the Light, our greater reality.

Thank you, little critters.

Practice. Practice. Practice.