“In the cave you fear lies the treasure you seek.”
A while back I asked a question during our weekly Breathe The World about exercising inner authority in life, and for the following few weeks, I had people coming up to me in all sorts of places wanting to know more. The response I got was so powerful I realized I’d hit a collective nerve, so I decided to flesh out the matter a little more fully for you here because reclaiming our inner authority is not simply about learning to be the architect of our own lives, it’s also about healing the world.
We all experience events, especially during childhood, that impact who we become as adults. I was abused as a child and it affected how I thought, reacted, what I believed to be true about the world—these were all conditioned by that experience. Likewise, if I’m an addict or overwhelmed by anything it limits the fullness of my being. But what if these experiences are also the doorway into our greatest gift that we can bring to others around us?
The first step on this journey is asking ourselves the following question: What has been my greatest life challenge and what would my inner and outer world look like were I to master it?
Healing ourselves us to face these challenges. If we’re prepared to meet the weaker, less likeable parts of ourselves we can become the healer of our own wounds rather than look for solutions outside us – pills, sex, shopping etc,
The empowerment that comes from healing our wounds liberates us from the burdens of our past, it allows us to become fully conscious human beings, and perhaps most significantly in these troubled times, it sets an example for all those that have not found the resolution they seek.
Imagine cutting your way through deep jungle. Within just a metre or two (those who have been to the Amazon know this to be true!) you could lose sight of your trail it’s so thick. You clear a path as you go, until you arrive at a clearing. Here you can rest, and all those others that know nowhere to go can see the clear pathway to follow.
This is your leadership. Do your inner work, Trust that it is not just for yourself, but for many, many others that face the same struggle you have mastered. Outer Leadership is born from Inner Leadership. Attempting to lead others without having become your own leader is not just inauthentic, it’s about control.
When you are the leader of your own inner self, then you are in your power, and you don’t need to be controlling anymore.
Look at our politicians to understand how it doesn’t work!
May you make choices that really work for your own healing, in the trust that this is your gift to the world around you.
Here’s that question again: What has been my greatest life challenge and what would my inner and outer world look like were I to master it?
