Shining Your Light

We have to be just as comfortable being a recognized light in the world as being an unrecognized one. It’s the light that’s important and it shines regardless of the world’s recognition.

Most of what’s shared in new thought blogs and teachings focuses on overcoming the fear that stops us from shining our own light in order to shine it. Not taking the necessary steps to shine your light is akin to shrinking from it.

Though I think it’s absolutely necessary to overcome any fear that stops you from stepping into your own light, there may come a point in your journey where the desire to shine your light (in the world) is ego’s latest game to sustain itself in your awareness.

This is where the rubber meets the road, because it may require letting go of whatever form you have attached to as the mechanism to shine your light in the world.

At a minimum it requires letting go of any attachment to the form that “you shining your light” is taking, since any attachment serves as a hindrance to our growth.

Our inability to let go is a sure sign that we’re caught in ego’s grip.

If we can let go of the attachment to our results, we’re golden…our involvement in the activity is not toxic to our inner growth. However, if we’re emotionally attached to the results, our involvement in the activity has become toxic to our inner growth.

Our emotional attachment is most apparent when we’re not seeing the results that we hope and expect to see. Cue frustration, resentment and comparison against others who are experiencing the results we desire.

This is not to say we’re immune to any emotional attachment when we experience success, but rather, that it’s less apparent. It’s much easier to conclude that you’re not attached to your results when you’re actually experiencing the results that you want.

To flush out the “tell-tell” emotions, just ask yourself if you could let the activity go and see how you feel. I’m betting there’s an immediate justification for why you shouldn’t have to let the activity go or a lot of fear regarding what life would feel like to not have that activity as you’re main form of “doing”.

Any attachment is of ego, no matter how justified is may seem. Attachment is what makes our relationship to the activity dysfunctional.

The inner path requires that we let go of being caught in any ego patterns of energy. We can either drop the psychological attachment to our investment in what we’re doing or drop the activity to ensure the psychological attachment dissolves.

The ability to dissolve these emotional attachments positions us to pick up and drop activities without resistance, which is the true mark of someone who is able to shine their light without being caught in ego.

Their light isn’t defined by what they do, yet it shines in all that they do. It shines as a result of living from a state of “being” versus “doing”, which is something most of us are still caught in.

To fully step into our own light, we have to be willing to let our light shine without being recognized, since recognition is a function of being caught in ego’s desire to “do” and “become”.

We must be willing to fully step outside of the mirror of the world, which is never easy when we’re still caught in the pattern of knowing ourselves through what we do…

The world is designed to recognize one’s light by their contribution, which is what makes our desire to “do” something important and meaningful so strong. We want to shine our light (spiritual impulse) and we want to be recognized in the world (ego impulse)…

We’re willing to step into our light so long as we still fit into the current constructs of the world.

This is a natural response to embarking on a spiritual path, because it allows us to challenge some aspects of our ego, but not all of them. It’s safe because it doesn’t require us to let go of everything. But safe only gets us so far…

At some point we hit the end of our comfort zone and we have to decide if this is as far as we’re willing to go or if we’re willing to muster the courage to push a little further.

I’m an advocate for pushing further. I want you (and me) to step fully into our light. But I understand the fear that it kicks up (I’m experiencing that fear in my own journey right now), so push as far as you can and give yourself a big hug for the progress that you were willing to make. Then, regroup and see if you’re willing to push a little further.

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To shining your light (with or without recognition),

Shanna

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