Experiences are opportunities to evolve us, especially the hurtful ones. Are you allowing them to pass you by or are you alchemizing them?
If you were raised in the United States, you probably start off your years with resolutions. However, 2020 marked an unprecedented year where the entire year felt like a rough roller coaster of emotional rehab.
Many, if not most of us, can agree that 2020 was the year of letting go, of a lot of things. It felt like we collectively were in deep cleaning mode. If we are courageous enough to press rewind, I bet, we’ve let go of a lot of things – intentionally or unintentionally. We had to – to survive, to evolve and for some of us – to thrive.
We went through tests, challenges, asked questions, researched, therefore, forcing us to look deeper at things and possibly, people we may have taken for granted for whatever reasons, including ourselves.
Some people, we had to let go of – in order to evolve to another level. They may never understand, although it’s highly unlikely they’ve never done it for themselves.
We may have been trained to be scared of the rug being pulled from under us and suddenly, found ourselves shocked at what the world was turning into. Were we in hibernation? Self hypnotized with our routines?
Some of us have realized just how addicted to “convenience” we had become; no matter how they affected us. Slowly, we were conditioned to become attached to a myriad of material things, beliefs, and sometimes, even people. For many of us, our sense of entitlement became infectious.
What and whom we thought we knew to be true was proven false and for many of us, who we thought we were was also proven false. Test after test, we shed layers of our superficial selves.
Quite a few of us probably were forced to look deep into the mirror to ask questions – sometimes, having no choice – to figure out who we truly are and what we’re made of. Not us, actually, but our crutches.
What are crutches?
Crutches can be those people, places and things we thought would always be there for us, either because it was easily attained and sometimes, was difficult to attain yet the end result was the same – attachment, dependency, etc. Sometimes, crutches can also be emotional hazards known as convenience, fear, insecurity, trauma, regret, resentment, disappointment – just to name a few.
We may end up taking our crutches for granted, not wanting to let them go. Although we know we’ve changed and outgrown whatever was keeping us upright and comfortable, we still hold on tightly reminding ourselves of tall tales we’ve made up along our journey.
What are our crutches made of and what had they turned us into? How much have we grown remaining comfortable and complacent? Would our realized dreams be in the horizon or in our presence? How far would you have flown without your crutches?
Did you feel fear, doubt and weakness in the face of uncertainty, hunger, or sickness? How often did you feel lonely during our season of solitude? Did you finally feel the burden of loneliness enough to question its validity?
Did you have enough free time to question the authenticity of your relationships, friendships, work and life itself?
I invite you to participate in a simple exercise: Name your crutches, then remember their ages. How did you two first intersect? How long have these crutches been with you?
Have your crutches been following you from place to place, relationship to relationship, year after year? Next, recall its origin and background story. Can you identify when the crutch appears or is it always with you? Does something trigger the appearance of your crutch and if so, what is that experience, thought or belief?
Finally, figure out if you still want that crutch around and do this, for each crutch. If you want any of them gone or purified, do whatever you feel is right to do so – some say, it’s as simple as saying thank you but good bye.
If you’ve got to get sexy and turn it into a ritual with a salt water bath, candles and diffuser, by all means, do so — it’s your world! If your crutch is a person, consider talking to that person or write them a letter. If you’re not ready for a physical encounter, consider healing without their presence.
One or many of your crutches may try to come back into your life like an ex who won’t get the hint, but since you have experience with that, reaffirm why you want them gone. Did you miss them or have you seen just how much more peaceful and lighter you’ve become without them around?
Did they truly want the best for you? I bet you can come up with at least one name you can and should always rely on…that’s you!!
If you need to “work on it” in order to get to your innate peaceful state, by all means, do so.
We have been taught that nothing is achieved without hard work, that you’ve got to feel the burn to see results and so on but have you actually tested that theory by doing the opposite?
What if releasing a crutch was as simple as just saying good bye when you were truly, truly ready? Try it and see! Journal your progress.
Does the world not need us to be at peace or has being raised in conflict left us numb?
It’s time to heal and amplify our inner light, each and every one of us. We “owe” it to ourselves, each other, Earth and all Earthlings. It’s time to stop being scared.
Let me re-write that…it is time to stop being scared.
Let’s drop our crutches and our fears. Let’s be who we were created to be! All we desire to be is already within us. Just wake it up!
Cheers to a peaceful, connected Golden era!!