Confidence of experience allows me to wade the stream when clear.
Does this mean I’m giving in to fear when it is not clear? Yes. And this is healthy. More accurately, I’m using my knowledge of the character of the stream to assume accountability for a wade that is as positive as possible.
Confidence is the result of allowing your core to flow without judgment. While there is a version of fear that can help keep us safe, there is a level of fear that can hold us back. The tragedy in the story is when we never move beyond this level of fear. In his book The Heart Aroused – Poetry and Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America, David Whyte poetically performs a heart-gripping alignment of organizational life with the epic struggle of Beowulf. In essence David tells us it is not the thing we fear, it’s the mother of the thing we fear that must be slain.
In a very critical life juncture, I was forced to face the mother of the thing I feared. I was surprised to find her identity; judgment. This is not judgment as in being judged by others; that was the thing I feared. This is the mother of the thing I feared; self-judgment.
In my work, and life-flow observations, I’ve found nothing more destructive than self-judgment. Dr. Shenna Hankin in Complete Confidence says that those with self-esteem judge themselves positively and those with confidence do not judge themselves at all. The condemning pressure of self-judgment crushes our spirit at our core. This inhibiting, concentrated form of judgment blinds us to the invaluable specifics of our uniqueness – our values, our strengths and our voice. Hamstrung in the game of life we are not even left with the minimum joy of a spectator. We are meant to play in the game and we have a position – a purpose.
The core of your purpose is to flow. It is true that you have to work hard on your purpose; understanding what it is and why it is so important to you. The core of your purpose is you – who you really are. The core (who you are) of your purpose (leveraging who you are) is to flow.
Your confidence in the flow is found in who you really are.
Jeff-that’s deep. Can you elucidate in more simplistic terms for those of us who aren’t blessed with natural insight?
Eliucidate! Okay, now that I’ve looked that up .. here it is in a nutshell:
Judging oursleves crushes our spirit. This keeps us from reaching out into the world as we are meant to do – and keeps us from being who we are meant to be.
Who you are and how that shows up is meant to show itself in a natural flow.
What makes this happen – greases the skids if you will – is when we realize that our confidence in this flow is found in who we really are – our wiring from the beginning.
Tks Jeff…that helps.
Perfect! And thanks again for reading my madness!!
Woah this is a good piece,
Judging ourselves limits us and crushes our spirit…..true word.
Jeff you are a blessing to mankind, one day you would be rewarded.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.