“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life.  I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”

~ Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell’s wise words reflect a universal law, or truth, that we often forget.  This truth relates to the resonance and connection between what we experience in our innermost being and what we experience outside ourselves.

As within, so without

Campbell’s words can just as easily be applied to ANY feelings we may have in response to what is happening in our physical world.  Because after all, being alive is not limited to the rapture. It also includes sadness, disgust, anger, guilt, embarrassment, fear or any other light or shadow aspects that we experience.

As we watch and debate the environmental and humanitarian situations unfolding around us in all corners of the globe, we are being called to question our attitudes, lifestyle, and priorities.

While we search for physical solutions to the problems we recognise around us, both on a local and global level, we also need to acknowledge those parts within ourselves, emotions, thoughts, old patterns and beliefs that don’t reflect our true values, which need to change. What we see around us reflects and reveals to us the health of our inner world. It directs us to what needs changing.

The outer world is a reflection or projection of our inner landscape. When we know this about the world around us, we can understand that our inner world must therefore be aligned with our true values if we are to bring about corresponding external shifts. The outer world will mirror whatever exists in the inner world. If we are to reach the solutions we desire for the earth, its people and wildlife, we must first ensure this alignment is clear and coherent.  

The World Is Our Mirror

First, it’s vital to identify what we consider are the primary factors contributing to the outer world problem. Then we can observe how, and where, those same factors are present within ourselves.

For example, if you see the problem as a lack of transparency in government, you need to consider what is hidden behind smoke and mirrors within. If you see restriction and loss of freedom as the issue, consider how you are restricting yourself.  Do you speak your truth, or do you prefer to hide behind silence?  Or do you forbid yourself from following your passion but place the blame for that on your obligations to others? 

Perhaps you see the use of fossil fuels contributing to climate change.  However, the inner world reflection won’t be actual fossil fuel. Rather, it will be a reflection of what fossil fuel use means to you. Consider what it is about our use of fossil fuels that is the problem and ask how and where this also applies to your own personal attitudes, beliefs and habits.

Look beyond the actual issue to what about it upsets you and to what you see as the crucial catalyst.  This is the signpost to the area within you that is out of balance.

Also consider whether you are using excuses to avoid changing within. Adopting blame, shame, smallness or many other tactics to escape accountability for your thoughts and actions, leaves you stranded in the role of the victim or the martyr.

Owning Your Responsibility

In many indigenous cultures the passage to becoming a man or woman, the point where you are recognised as an adult by the group, requires the person to take full responsibility for their life.  This step requires them to OWN the pathway of their life.  It calls on them to be accountable for their choices, their actions and all that results. It sidesteps guilt and blame and invites them instead to reclaim their personal power. In accepting this responsibility they must recognise and acknowledge that they always play a role in both the creation of the problem and the outcome.

This is Responsibility.

It is what it means to be an adult.

It’s time for us all to step up and take responsibility for both our worlds, starting with our inner world, as we also begin to change our habits in the outer physical world. It’s time to shift our engagement from the role of passive victim to that of active creator.

When Everything Seems Hopeless

Whenever we experience negative feelings, feel overwhelmed by what we observe in the world around us, or become ensnared by the emotions of fear, restriction and helplessness it can seem as though there is no way out.  At such times we become locked into to the energy of the 3D plane and our vibration becomes dull or muddy.

In order to change this we must own our responsibility for our experience of the world around us.

We need to make a conscious decision to take back control of our destiny with wisdom, trust and courage.  Simply by making that conscious decision our inner world begins to change and shift.  Just like the first tiny stirrings of an avalanche the process begins to slowly gather momentum.

WE CHANGE THE WORLD BY CHANGING OURSELVES

When the problem we’ve encountered seems huge, we may feel we have to take a big momentous stand to bring about the change we desire.  But in fact, all journeys begin with one small step.  We only need to change one little thing to start the movement. We might seek self-improvement through self-study, connecting with nature, taking time to engage with our inner voice and reframing limiting inner dialogue, or even just improving our nutrition.

Essentially, it’s about moving ourselves out of our comfort zone and reprogramming our belief systems in alignment with our authentic truth.  Once we do this our vision clears, our purpose becomes deliberate, and we can take aligned action.

This is not about attracting things to us to elicit change in the world around us.  Rather, it’s about clarifying and refining our inner truth in order to direct our experience in the world in alignment with that truth.

And this is hugely powerful.  This is how we truly bring about sustainable change.

5 Simple Ways to Transform from Within

1. Know yourself

Self-knowledge is vital for living an authentic life.

2. Love yourself

You cannot fully love another person until you love yourself.

3. Let go of fear

Fear locks us down and holds us back.  We become stronger when we release it.

4. Take time for you

Invest in your wellbeing and growth.  This refines your vibration, calms your nervous system and supports your personal growth.  Many people maintain they don’t have any time for themselves.  But in reality, we always find time to do what we value. So ask, do you value yourself?

5. Engage consciousness

Most people are fully conscious for less than 10 percent of the time.  For most of the time they react to life based upon programs within their subconscious minds without really being aware they are doing it.  

In fact, many of our unconscious thoughts aren’t even our own.  They came from others including our parents, when we were very young, and they reflect the fears and values of others.  

One of the reasons so many people feel stuck, trapped or unhappy is because they’re still under the influence of other people’s expectations.  They do not have control of their own thoughts and therefore their life, because they have given their power to others.  So they have no control over their experience of the outside world. 

Master your thoughts and you will have the freedom to direct your destiny with wisdom, trust and courage.

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying treatment suggested on this site.

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content