Whose walking your path?

I don't know about you, but I get really excited about my spiritual/personal journey. 

I sometimes get so excited that I feel that others need to be on the same journey as I am.

This tends to happen alot with my husband and I.  And recently the Universe reminded me that my husbands personal journey is none of my business!  (you gotta love it when you get those reminders)

It all happened while we were taking part in a 10 day metabolic cleanse with Metagenics.  We were doing fine, eliminating foods from our diet everyday and taking the "prescribed" product to help our bodies eliminate toxins.

Around day 5 my hubby started to get a little grumpy about what he could and couldn't eat (we were down to eating only broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, apples & pears).  Generally he is a meat and potatoes guy with a strong tolerance for his wife's nutritional tricks (which I have to admit once in a while border on obsessions).

Anyway....

We had a brief phone conversation one day about how he was starving because he didn't know what he could and couldn't eat and I reminded him that the instructions were well laid out in the booklet that lay in front of him on the kitchen counter. 

I hung up the phone and felt my body tense up.  How could he not know what to eat?  How hard is it to open the fridge and pull out some veggies and eat them?  Why was he choosing to be so difficult?  Why is this so hard for him to do, it's only 10 days for goodness sake?  ARGH!!!

I no sooner got all bent out of shape when it dawned on me.

He only chose to do this cleanse because I came home with the product for him.  He only chose to do this because he believes in me and my vision for a healthier lifestyle.  He only chose to do this because I was so excited and convinced him it was "the right thing to do" for us.

Hold up! 

For "us"?  Yah, right...  Cause I don't have enough living to do on my own, I have to live his life for him too....

The truth:  I dragged him into this whole cleanse thing because I wanted him to follow along MY path.  I want him to live a healthier lifestyle for ME.

But his path is NOT my path.  Not even close.  I forget this every once in a while because he is so supportive of me, and it's not fair to him when he gets caught in my "best laid plans".

I think in our excitement of all that we are personally learning in our experience, we are eager to put what we have learned onto someone we love, in the hopes that that person will experience greater self awareness.

Think back to a time when someone has put their own expectations of what your personal journey should look like on you.  How did that feel?  Did it feel like you weren't being trusted with your own life?  Did it feel like someone didn't believe in your own talents and abilities?  Did it feel uncomfortable?  Did it feel disrespectful?

I know for me, I can reason away my behaviour in the guise of "but I love them, I want what's best for them".  As much as this is true, sometimes we can show an even greater love to someone by letting them live for themselves, in a way that is comfortable for them.

This isn't always easy to do.  It's getting easier for me to do this with my husband and yet a little more difficult to do with my teenage sons :)  But still, everytime I catch myself putting my standards upon them it gives me another opportunity to readjust and get back on my own path.

Afterall, if I'm walking on someone else's path.  Then who is walking on mine?

What room are you living in?

This quote is speaking to me today.

"There is an Indian Belief that everyone is in a house of four rooms: A physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time, but unless we go into every room everyday, even if only to keep it aired, we are not complete."    -- Rumer Godden

Lately I've been paying more attention to which "room" I am living in and have realized that I am sometimes afraid to leave that room and venture into another.

The emotional room seems to have been one that I visit less frequently and it all depends on the emotions that are waiting for me there.
 
I find lately it's becoming easier and easier to show my happy emotions and harder and harder to show my not so happy emotions.
 
Anyone who knows me well knows that I can't hide my emotions.  I wear them on my face and carry them in my body.  Expressing them verbally is another issue altogether. 
 
Every once in a while I wake up in a mood that is quite edgy, sometimes sarcastic and always witty.  And if I'm being honest here, it is a really fun mood to be in.  Personally, it's the mood I feel most creative in, it's the mood where I get more accomplished and appreciate myself more. 
 
And yet, there is a small piece of me that says "you can't show this to other people, this is not who you want them to see.  This personality is not cute, calm and inviting.  Stay home and don't talk to anyone while you are like this". 
 
That's the voice of the person inside of me that isn't comfortable with her authentic power. 
 
Authentic power is when you are living in all 4 of those rooms and you are comfortable with each of them.  Authentic power is never hiding who you are whether you think it's good or bad, it's important to show the world your many wonderful facets of being human.
 
If only to inspire someone else to do the same.
 
It's a myth that "spiritually conscious" people never experience anger, resentment, jealousy, shame and have to be loving and kind every moment of every day (Mother Teresa was an extremely special woman, we weren't all cut out to be just like her).  Each of us is here to experience all of life, every emotion, every challenge for the sake of our own personal growth.

The point of the spiritual journey is to walk through all of our experiences and learn from them, and that means feeling the emotions that come up throughout the experience. 

We rarely learn a lesson of great importance while walking on cloud 9 with a smile on our face and a spring in our step!

So, this quote is a reminder to me to visit my emotional room every day, check in, take a look around and see what needs to be addressed without judgement, without fear.

Walking Through Illusion

How do you start a book review for a book that has changed your life?

When I was approached by Betsy Otter Thompson and asked to write a review for her newest book Walking Through Illusion, I was really excited for the opportunity.

Throughout reading the book, my excitement grew leaps and bounds for all those who will pick it up and read it and for the message it is bringing to humanity.

Set in dialogue format.  Thompson asks all the right questions and the Jesus energy within her heart answers them from a place of pure love, understanding and truth.

Walking Through Illusion isn't a book that you pick up and just read, it is a book that demands connection with emotion and inner searching.  It is a book that will bring you to new understandings about yourself, your life and the people in it.  It is definitely a book you will want to keep handy as you work out life's mysteries.

Betsy Otter Thompson brilliantly combines the wisdom of Jesus with short notes of her own journey, as well as offers questions to help you realize your own truth at the end of each chapter.

The timing of which I received this book was no coincidence and immediately upon opening it up answers to my deepest questions were revealed.

For me, reading this book was like being transported back in time, sitting in front of Jesus himself as he teaches us about Love, Forgiveness and the Ultimate Truth.

Often times I have felt that Jesus' teachings are overlooked in our daily lives.  Walking Through Illusion proves that the teachings he offered in his earthly lifetime are still alive and are entirely relevant to our lives today, in fact the information within this book may be all the answers you will ever need along your journey.

I found Walking Through Illusion a spiritual practice.  The book demanded my attention only when the timing was perfect and with each chapter I found myself processing the information at a very deep spiritual level, in turn changing how I saw my myself within my life.

It is my belief that Walking Through Illusion can propel us all to a deeper understanding of ourselves and our role here on this planet.

Thank you Betsy for the opportunity to review Walking Through Illusion.  It was my greatest pleasure.