One of my favorite things to do on Sunday mornings is to watch Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday series in which she interviews some of the best authors, spiritual teachers and thought leaders of our time. It is always uplifting, inspiring, educational and truly food for your soul. Who doesn’t need more of that right now?
Recently I watched an interview with Marianne Williamson, the accomplished teacher of The Course in Miracles, and was riveted by much of what she had to say. Yet, one of her comments in particular struck me and made a huge impact in how I look at my life as well as the lives of my clients.
What I remember Marianne saying is that, according to The Course In Miracles, “The highest divine blueprint for your life is already written.” She explained that it is our job to remove the blocks in our own consciousness to be able to receive or download this divine blueprint and that we do this by having an open heart. If our heart is not open, we are unable to receive this divine transmission and will not be able to live the best life possible for us.
You may be asking, “Well, how do I have an open heart?” One of the ways the Course teaches to keep your heart open is to ask for a shift in perception around the events and experiences in your life that are upsetting and to also begin to cultivate the practice of forgiveness.
When I work with clients, one of the things I am looking for is how their thoughts and perceptions of the events or circumstances in their life may be keeping them blocked or stuck. While we may start out by discussing the bigger picture of their dreams, desires, or goals; there is a reason they have been unable to achieve or attain these goals on their own.
This reason is usually found in their thoughts, beliefs and attitudes about themselves and their circumstances. This can be murky or tricky territory because the thoughts and beliefs are often unconscious and therefore hard for the clients to see on their own. My job is to help them do the deep excavation work to uncover what they are truly thinking and believing so they can examine these beliefs and decide if they are serving them or keeping them stuck.
Let me give you an example. I recently worked with a client who had big dreams and goals. She loved travel and wanted to open her own online business selling products that she collects from all over the world. She developed the business idea, consulted with the appropriate legal experts to guide her and got her husband’s support and approval. Yet, every time she made a significant move to get this business off the ground something would go wrong.
She would get sick, have a big fight with her husband or overspend and derail her finances. As we began to look at what was going on, we uncovered several sabotaging negative beliefs that she wasn’t aware were affecting her behaviors. She realized that there was a generational pattern of women in her family who sacrificed their achievements and goals for the happiness of others. She had fears that if she became too successful, her husband would leave her and her kids would feel neglected and resentful.
As we uncovered these sabotaging beliefs, we worked at consciously questioning and changing them, thereby allowing for the shift in perception that would keep her heart open to receive her highest good. One of the best ways I know to transform thoughts is with the work of Byron Katie in which one asks four powerful questions regarding the negative or sabotaging belief. These questions are as follows:
- Is it really true?
- Can you absolutely know that it is true?
- How do you react and what happens when you believe that thought?
- Who would you be without the thought?
The next step is to turn the original negative thought around to a more true thought or a thought that feels better. This process repatterns the neural networks in the brain and releases the grip of the habitual thought patterns so you can begin to think and do things differently. I have seen many clients, including the woman mentioned above, make tremendous shifts once they are able to release old, negative, habitual thought patterns that are keeping them stuck and sabotaging their goals.
If the highest divine blueprint for your life is already written and waiting for you to download or align with it, what would it take for you to make this happen? What thoughts, beliefs or behaviors are blocking or sabotaging you from aligning with your highest destiny and actualizing your full potential? Are you willing to shift your perception and step into this field of possibilities? It may only be a thought or two away…
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