Be safe enough to shine your own light

Many people believe that being invisible is a life strategy that will keep them safe.

They believe that if they show who they really are, and shine their light, unpleasant things will happen to them.

If they dare to venture outside of the well known and secure life they have constructed around themselves, unknown bad things will show up, which is different from all the “known” bad things they see on TV and in the news, everyday. The fear of what might happen if they are seen keeps many people hidden, afraid to step out and reach for what they really want. They don’t know how to be seen and be safe. They choose to stay small, for fear of being hurt.

Sometimes it isn’t the fear of their own light that holds them back, but the fears of others in their group.

The group mentality works like this: everyone agrees on certain conditions and rules for the group, usually unconsciously.

If one member of the group decides to step up and create something for her or himself outside of the agreed upon rules, the group judges, gets angry, and sometimes tries to pull that person back.

Some of the judgment sounds like this, “Why would you succeed at that when so many others have failed? You should get realistic and get a steady job or a real career. Only one in a million can succeed like that”, and so on. There is often an emphasis on ‘getting real’.

Which begs the question, whose reality are you talking about anyway?

You might not want to be a movie star or the next big musical sensation. You have your own pictures of how you want to create reality for yourself. Maybe your reality looks a bit more like this: you want to devote your time to following what has meaning for you, rather than getting a job just so that you can afford to have the life “everyone” is supposed to have and want.

You may not even know just what it is you want to do. Perhaps you spent your whole life doing one thing, it was good, but its time is over. You finished with that part of your life – good job!

Now you are free to create a new picture for the next part of the journey.

The best tools you can have to take a step in a new direction are tools you can use to heal yourself and keep yourself safe enough to shine your own light. In order to take a new step in the direction you want to go in, it helps to know yourself better.

Then you can be certain that, no matter what information is coming in from out there telling you what is safe or smart to do, you are secure enough to choose for yourself.

Meditation is one of the best tools to help you do this.

When you learn how to ground yourself and to release energies that get in your way, it becomes safer for you to shine your light, and to make choices you might not otherwise be able to make. You can become clear about which choices you actually do want to make.

Meditation helps you to embrace your own power, your truth. When you choose to have the power to know yourself, you can have your space without judging what you want. This helps you release the judgment that says you're making bad choices while you try to live your own true life.

Perhaps learning how to meditate is the next step toward your next step.

• ©Kris Cahill

• Image at Firefly.org