Are You Using Your Personality as an EXCUSE to Stay STUCK??

Sutra 1.13: Of these two, effort toward steadiness is practice

Let us consider that your day, for the most part, is made up hundreds of practices. The practice of what time you wake up, the way that you brush your teeth, the way that you pour your tea, and so on. The sutras emphasize that “practice,” in order to be effective, must be of two qualities. It must be consistent and and done with sincerity. Sincerity requires awareness, so that we can recognize the parts of ourselves that have NOT been quite sincere. And here is where I want to steer this conversation of “practice” towards, “the practice of being a sincere person.” We all have a personality or “the reality of our person.” I do not believe spirituality wants you to cease being the unique, quirky, individual that you are; BUT, I do believe that spirituality or, “the reality of our spirit” wants you to be AWARE of your unique, “ways of being” and ONLY “PRACTICE” those ways that are of service to the quality of your existence. This ULTIMATELY means you will need to, “STOP practicing,” those “ways of being” that are causing your own suffering.

When faced with a challenge or disturbance in life, I hear people claim all the time, myself included, “Oh, that’s just how I am,” or “I’ve just ALWAYS been this way.” To a certain extent we ALL seem to justify unacceptable behavior, prejudices, biases, and the like, because they are “just the way we are.” It becomes an easy excuse to NOT change, to NOT up-level ourselves, to NOT practice a different ‘realness of our person’ that is in FULL alignment with our highest good. 

“I’m an introvert; I’m not good with money; I’ve always done it this way; I’ve never had a mind for business, or, this is just the way I am”….. these are all REALLY convenient excuses to continue having the SAME tired problems and the same tired complaints for the REST OF OUR LIVES!

I am suggesting that, “the way that we are” is simply a PRACTICED “way of being” that over time and repetition became so ingrained and programmed that it REALLY feels like it’s the REAL you. I am in NO way suggesting that you drop your quirkiness….I am ALL about “waving your weird flag.” What I am suggesting is that we look at the, “realities of our person,” with an OPEN mind, that it might NOT be, “just the way your are.” You may have just gotten REALLY GOOD at being “that way,” because you have PRACTICED it for so damn long!

If being funny is part of your personality and cracking jokes is second nature to you, it doesn't mean you STOP being funny; but maybe it DOES mean you SEE where you are using humor to avoid having difficult conversations, or maybe, using humor at the expense of somebody else because of YOUR OWN unaddressed insecurities. So now, “the PRACTICE” becomes a daily reflection on your USE of humor and refining how you CHOOSE to offer it out into the world as a GIFT, rather than an unconscious DISTRACTION.

What if we considered EVERYTHING in life to be a practice? So there is the practice of eating breakfast or NOT eating breakfast…..let’s say that you DO eat breakfast….is it at the table, in the car, at your desk? What are you having for breakfast? How do you eat the breakfast? Do you actually taste it? How many times do you chew? Do you have the next bite ready before you finished the first one? What are you doing while you are eating….are you reading, thinking, watching tv? What are you digesting other than the actual food as you eat the breakfast?….. And, are ALL of these “practices” aligned with HOW you want your body and mind to look and feel?

The way that we PRACTICE to live, every detail of our life, will ultimately determine the reality of our lives. It is up to US to “PRACTICE” the life we WANT to live as the person we WANT to be. If REALity is what is REAL to me, then REALity is what I CHOOSE to see and HOW I choose to then BE, in the face, of what I SEE. The “PRACTICE” becomes making that choice….over and over and over again until, you ARE who you WANT to BE, living the life YOU manifested into this REALITY. 

THANK YOU! Taking the time to really SEE yourself can be difficult BUT also EMPOWERING! You get to be EXACTLY WHO YOU WANT TO BE!

All my blessings,

Andrea Dawn