Living From the Inside Out

This is an image of words written in the form of clouds that say CORE VALUES

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We live in a physical world where there is a great emphasis on defining ourselves by title, power, money, and material possessions. This model of life is based on living from the outside in and centers around ego gratification, trying to control other people and outer circumstances, and material accumulation. If we are living from the outside in, we are likely to feel that we never have enough of anything and that no matter how successful we are, there is a sense of emptiness within our souls. It is not surprising that many of us have adopted this perception of life because it is based on the competitive, survival-oriented way of living which is the predominant model that has been demonstrated and taught to us by our parents, caregivers, and teachers.

 

 

As we expand in our spiritual evolution, most of us are seeking to realize a deeper purpose for our lives and are longing for a sense of inner peace. This requires that we reverse the center of our lives from the ego-based desires for outer approval and material gratification to centering our lives around our inner core values. In others words, we need to shift from living from the outside in to living from the inside out.

 

 

What Does Living From the Inside Out Mean?

 

 

Living from the inside out is a model of life which evolves from viewing the world from the Perspective of Oneness and is based on spiritual values and cooperating for the good of the whole. When you see the world from this vantage point, you remember that you are connected to the Source of Divine Love, as well as to everyone and everything. When you live from the inside-out, you are living in integrity, which is to say that you are integrating every aspect of your being – Soul, Mind, and Body – with the values of spiritual love.

 

 

Soul – Your soul is your connection to Spirit and becomes the center of your existence and the highest authority for how you choose to live your life. You access your spiritual wisdom by listening to your intuition and honoring your “gut level” feelings. Your self-worth is determined by your connection with Universal Love, not by how others perceive you.

 

Mind – You choose perceptions that are based on the qualities of Spirit: unconditional love, respect, cooperation; and you use your energy to create the quality of life you choose, rather than to fearfully react to others and your outer world of experience.

 

Body – Your body and material world align with your spiritual values and you create a physical reality that is in harmony with the values of your soul. Because you are reflecting your true self, you attract people and situations that resonate with your True Self.

 

 

Living in integrity from your spiritual core center incites motivation, passion, and inspiration because you are honoring your commitment to bring the gift of your Essential Self to the world. When you live from the inside out, you are living in harmony with the Oneness of Spirit, creating unity and harmony within your inner personal life, as well as the world all around you.

 

 

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

 

 

Do you have any insights that you would like to share with us regarding how you have learned to live from the inside out?

 

Love and Light,

 

Sandra

 

For more information on Living From the Inside Out, order the book, “The Power of Oneness, Live The Life You Choose.”

 

 

Choosing to Have the Courage to Be Yourself

This is an image of a bright blue sky with beautiful clouds with the the word Courage written into the clouds

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Ironically, one of the greatest fears we humans have is that we will be vulnerable if we express our true self to the world.  In an attempt to “protect” ourselves, we many times project emotions which we do not authentically feel, display behaviors which are designed to please others, and say things we don’t really mean.

 

 

Why do we do this? 

 

 

We live in a society in which we are conditioned to focus primarily on outer stimulation. From earliest childhood, many of us were taught by well-intentioned parents, teachers, and caregivers to define ourselves by what other people think of us.  Seeking the approval of others quickly became the major motivation for most of our behavior patterns, starting very early in the lives of many of us.  As a result, we may have developed a belief system that our self-worth is determined by the opinions of others rather than learning to develop our own sense of self-esteem based on inner values.  Unless we became aware of this perception and chose to change it, we most likely continued to perpetuate this belief into adulthood.  

 

 

Why does this cause pain in our lives?

 

 

One of the tenets of the Universal Law of Manifestation is that we attract what we project.  Accordingly, if we do not project our authentic selves, we will not attract responses from other people that align with who we truly are.  For example, most of us have been in numerous life situations where we have knocked ourselves out trying to please someone by being the selfless mother, father, spouse, sibling, or friend.  We emotionally gave and gave until eventually we felt depleted.  We were desperately seeking approval for our heroic deeds.  When we did not get back what we considered an appropriate response, we felt totally unappreciated and, perhaps, even rejected.  This seemingly selfless approach is far from selfless because it cultivates an environment where everyone is looking to everyone else to feel regenerated.

 

 

Does it take courage to express our true self?

 

 

Of course it takes courage to live an authentic life in which we are projecting our honest self, rather than hiding behind layers of veneers that we have designed to deflect the hurtful thoughts and actions of others. It is important to remember that  “courage”  (root word cuer, meaning heart) does not mean the absence of fear; indeed, we all have fears.  Having courage means that we make a conscious choice to live from the heart by choosing thoughts, words, and actions that are aligned with our spiritual values of kindness, cooperation, and respect for self and others. Interestingly, when we are being who we truly are, we are actually able to detach from needing approval from everyone else because there is an inner peace and sense of confidence that comes from living in integrity.

 

 

The only real “safety” any of us has in life is the security of being our authentic selves.  Every single one of us is amazingly special.  NO ONE ELSE CAN BE YOU!  No other human being has your particular personality, your one-of-a-kind brain, your special body, and your extraordinary soul. YOUR UNIQUENESS is a contribution to all of humanity.

 

 

When you express your TRUE SELF to the world, you are sharing the physical expression of the Love and Light of your soul. What could be more “safe?”

 

 

Love and Light,

 

Sandra

How Can We Access Our Inner Spiritual Wisdom?

This is an image of a chalkboard with colorful chalk that says, "Follow Your Intuition"

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Living a life of spiritual integrity requires that make we make decisions and choose perceptions that align with our inner spiritual wisdom.  This sounds rather simple, but how do we access our inner wisdom?

 

 

Many of us associate the thought of accessing inner wisdom in an esoteric way, such as: going into a lengthy and deep meditation in an isolated environment; seeking seclusion in a monastery; spending time in a distant place such as an ashram; or, at the very least, needing to be completely alone in a quiet place.  While all of these techniques are highly effective in accessing spiritual wisdom, the truth is that every human being has the ability to instantaneously and directly access the universal field of intelligence from wherever we are, at any time, and all of the time through intuition.  In essence, we are each a conduit for a constant stream of limitless wisdom.

 

 

One of the definitions of intuition is, “the immediate knowing of something without the conscious use of reasoning.   Because intuition is a right-brain function, it isn’t something we can analyze with our minds.  Intuitive messages bypass the judgment of the mind and come directly through to the heart, thus the saying, “the truth is within.”

 

 

How Do We Perceive Intuition?

 

Because intuitive messages come through the heart, they are perceived through our senses.  These feelings are sometimes described as “gut level,” “sixth sense,” “inner wisdom,” “inner knowing,” and “flashes of imagination.”  Many of us actually experience physical sensations when we hear or see something that coincides with our truth.  We may suddenly get goose bumps, feel a tingling sensation, spontaneously take a deep breath, feel an electrical current going up our backs, or sense an overall wave of energy moving throughout the body.  These sensations are indications that our bodies are literally resonating with the energetic frequency of the truth of spirit.  We can also get physical indications when something we are hearing or seeing is not truth.  Usually it is a contracted feeling, such as a knot in the stomach or throat, shortness of breath, or a sudden chill.

 

 

Every person has intuition.

 

 

Although we all sense it in different ways, and some of us even deny sensing it at all, every person has intuitive abilities–it is part of our human nature.

 

 

The reason it appears that not all of us are intuitive is simply because some of us listen to and act upon our inner messages, whereas others simply dismiss them as insignificant.  We many times ignore our intuition because we want to validate our intuitive messages with our left-brain logic and analysis.  When we attempt to do this, we choke the spontaneous flow of wisdom coming through to us because messages of spirit are infinitely larger than the logical paradigms of the mind.  An example of this is getting an intuitive message to write a book and rationalizing all the reasons why it is not a “good idea” before exploring all the possibilities of why it is possible.

 

 

How can we distinguish the difference between “intuitive feelings” and “impulsive feelings?”

 

 

When we get an impulsive message, it is usually initiated by our ego in the form of a whim to immediately do something, whether it is in our greatest good or not.  Our impulse may be to indulge in an addictive behavior, such as overeating, or to run out and buy something we neither need nor can afford.  If it is an impulse, chances are we will change our minds if we wait for a while or sleep on the idea.  Also we are likely to feel guilty or unfulfilled after acting impulsively.

 

 

Intuitive messages, on the other hand, are relentless and persistent.  Even when we ignore them, they have the tenacious habit of resurfacing time and time again.  Intuitive messages are always in our best interests, causing us to feel uplifted and fulfilled.  Because intuition connects us with our Oneness of Spirit, the messages it reveals to us are always rooted in unconditional love and pure truth.  We develop our ability to perceive intuitive messages by listening, trusting, and acting upon them.  The more we do this, the more we empower ourselves to live our lives with spiritual integrity.

 

 

Love and Light,

 

Sandra