Everything.
A mature, healthy, evolving adult chooses - every day - to be
responsible and accountable for their conscious choices, behaviors,
and actions...and also for their unconscious choices, behaviors,
and actions.
This is the domain of mastery; being wholly aware of our reality and taking responsibility for ourselves fully. Taking responsibility for what
we see and know about ourselves now; and also taking responsibility
for what we do not yet, see and know about ourselves.
"But," you ask, "how can I be conscious of what is unconscious?"
You choose it. You choose to be awake and aware...every day.
You choose to be fully conscious. And in doing so, more and more
of what is unconscious bubbles to the surface.
Egypt is a powerful example of this.
Many people in Egypt chose to become more conscious of their
reality: high unemployment, low wages, cronyism, high food costs, repression, and abuse. This willingness to become more conscious
allowed what lay in the unconscious to rise to the surface:
dissatisfaction, fear, hopelessness, anger.
In turn, by being willing to be acutely aware of their reality, many
people became empowered to organize, to speak, to protest,
to revolt...
...which gave rise to a more powerful energy that lay even deeper
within the unconscious; the courage, the passion, and the desire
to be free; and the willingness to act upon that desire, no matter what the risks.
The unconscious became conscious; internal evolution became
revolution. And the rest as they say...is history.
This is the power of embracing reality, choosing consciousness, and becoming more of who you are.
Mastery is the point at which you stop believing you are at the effect
of your life and instead come to know that you are at the cause of
your life. This is the pathway of mastery. It is simple, but not necessarily
easy. It is profoundly fulfilling, but also quite challenging.
Authentic mastery of your life is not about manipulation, power, or
control. (As former Egyptian President Mubarak learned quite well.)
It is not about your mind or more information. Mastery isn't about perfection or being a warrior. Mastery isn't about dogma or dominance, new age nirvana, or taking the woo-woo-train-to-airy-fairy-land-and-dysfunction-junction.
Mastery is about embracing each day of your life with humor,
humility, grace, and consciousness. It is also about not allowing any
day of your life to be about suffering, struggle, sacrifice, and unconsciousness. (The people of Egypt illustrate this truth quite well.)
Acknowledging that you are at the cause of your life is where people
often get stuck. Rather than see this reality with clear and accurate awareness, they:
· Defend, justify, blame, and explain.
· Obsess, suppress, repress, anesthetize, and ignore.
· Use power, manipulation, and control.
· Or, they allow, bow, and appease.
So, what are the concrete, tangible, practical ways you can begin
to move towards mastery of your life?
Certainty. Intimacy. Enjoyment. Fulfillment.
More next time...
(For more about the concepts in this message, go to "For Women & Men: the transformative ground of the goddess," "Energy: the science & spirit of you," "Mastery: the quantum path to your heart" & "The Certainty of Intimacy:
being more of you," at www.kellygracesmith.com.)
