I Choose....Because I Am.....

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

One of the wonderful groups I am a part of is called Heart Led Living. The focus here is on personal growth and one of the most important aspect for me is a weekly call in.  The founder, Sue Dumais, always brings a truth she feels led to share that day, and then opens the call up to the members to get support. If I don't feel the nudge to reach out, I often do my yoga practice while I listen.

I can't remember what Sue's topic was one week but there was a set of words she repeated that brought a physical reaction - "I Choose...Because I Am..."  I can't offer her exact examples, but these sound familiar -

• I choose love, because I am love.
• I chose peace, because I am peace.
• I chose joy, because I am joy.

There was something about this simple truth that spoke to me that day, and continues to speak to me. I don't have to chose to act in a loving way towards others. I don't have to try be peaceful or joyful. All that I need to do is be what I am at my core: loving, peaceful and joyful. They are all an innate part of me and have been since the day I was born.  

Another concept that blends well with this is the idea that as we move through life, we aren't becoming someone new as we grow, we instead are simply returning to the perfect soul we were at birth. We are remember who we are. 

In The Voice of Knowledge, author Don Miguel Ruiz talks about his grandfather sharing with him not only are truth we born perfect, but the idea that we are not perfect is a lie taught to distract us.

“The first lie you believe is...You are not the way you should be, you are not good enough, you are not perfect...So you start to search for an image of perfection that you can never become.”

How is it our society has bought into this lie? This fallacy surrounds us, beats against us, and drives us.  We need to be financially successful, act in an expected way, keep our looks, be popular on social media, go to the right parties, have the right hobbies.  I am tired of seeing images of what I should look like at my age held up in the media that are unrealistic for most of us. 

Is there a way to walk away from the crashing waves around us, to walk in harmony and in acceptance of who we are, to embrace the truth that we were born perfect?  I think there is. It takes courage and patience, it takes riding the roller coaster of ups and downs that are sure to come, and for me it takes mantras I can reach for when I slip.  I choose...because I am.... is really resonates for me.  If this mantra doesn't call you, feel to create a mantra that feels right for you.

 Take time today to look at the negative messages you are being given and those pesky tapes running in the back ground.  Visualize putting them on a boat and setting them adrift in the ocean. Let them go. Know you were born perfect.  When doubts arise, when negative pressures build, step away and breath. Repeat your mantra until calm arrives, then choose how you move forward. Remember you are just returning to your natural state, before the world started trying to change you.

Choose... Because you are....