WEEK 168

God, what is your guidance for me today? How may I live more deeply into my life?

Take time to think about mistakes

you have made… errors in judgement,

lapses in self-control, and times your ego

has gotten the best of you.

With these remembrances, and out of respect

for yourself, let go of any self-blame you may

harbor. Remember that you are human,

and that there is no way to avoid mistakes

unless you stop everything and just do nothing,

which would also be a mistake.

Let go of being self-critical today. Honor both

your successes and mistakes as equal in value, as both

experiences teach, inform, and offer its wisdoms.

Both are of great use in the development of

spiritual awareness.

Today, remind yourself to be decent… to you 

and considerate… of you. Be polite to yourself.

Be cordial and good-natured to your being. Be a good

neighbor to the person you are.

Be gentle with yourself… and forgiving; and trust that 

God, because of your willingness to live deeply…

is expanding the breadth and depth

of you… of your soul, heart, spirit… being…

your existence. You.

Evening Reflection 

This was a very powerful guidance for me. I am hard on myself, and today’s guidance reminded me I am only human. The sentiment to be a good neighbor was so helpful even if a little weird. 

I say weird because it reminded me that we are spiritual beings who are incarnated. We HAVE a body, but our bodies are not WHAT we are. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. This is why we are able to watch ourselves live. I find it to be an interesting feeling to be aware of watching yourself. But it is also the reason we can be a good neighbor to ourselves. We live – with us. We are our own roommate, so to speak.

My ego did get the best of me at least once today. A bed needed to be moved and a family member lamented my doing it alone. I reminded them, “I have been a man for a long time and am surely strong enough!” My comment was unnecessary and smacked of pure ego. I could have said instead, “Oh, it’ll be fine.” But I was able to laugh at myself, even pardon my egoic cockiness. Ego has developed along with humanity since the beginning of time. It usually takes great effort over time to transcend its hold, if one is successful. 

Today, I was at least gentle with myself about it all… and just went on, learning another lesson about… me.

The guidance was a reminder to be good-natured to myself. And I was. And it was very cool to be that. To be considerate and decent to oneself may seem obvious, but for many, there is no reminder; no one to tell them to be so; no one to assure them that they deserve to be this way to themselves.

Today, I am grateful for this day’s guidance and reminder. May it keep sounding in my soul.