Be Mindful of Self-Sabotage

Self-sabotage is another undercurrent of ego that we need to be mindful of…

It’s the manifestation of the beliefs we hold about ourselves, regarding what we believe we deserve (or don’t deserve). Sometimes these are “semi-conscious” thoughts, meaning we consciously believe or tell ourselves these stories as a part of our identity…

I’m not smart enough or good enough; therefore I don’t deserve xyz.

Other times we may be completely unaware of the thought or belief that is manifesting. This usually occurs with any unresolved guilt that we’re unconsciously harboring…

Maybe it’s earning more money than we unconsciously believe we deserve, so we “get rid of it” by “inadvertently” making bad investments or buying things we don’t need. When the money is gone, we tell ourselves “we’re just bad with money” when all along we unconsciously felt guilty for having the money.

The same thinking applies to relationships when we feel (unconsciously) undeserving of the other person. Scenarios “just happen to occur” that give cause for the relationship not to have a future…yet the true cause behind the manifestation of these scenarios is the unresolved guilt we’re harboring.

Guilt is tricky because it doesn’t stop us from going after something; it just stops us from either fully receiving what we went after (the job, money, relationship, etc.) or it stops us from hanging on to it once we receive it.

Guilt hides and runs in the background without us fully understanding that it’s the cause of what we are or aren’t receiving or keeping; whereas the stories of worth that we tell ourselves determine whether or not we even go after the job, money, relationship, etc. in the first place.

Regardless of whether it’s a story of worth or unresolved guilt, ego is at play. Our job is to become fully aware of its inner workings so that it no longer has a hold over us, which, in return, changes what manifests in our experience.

We have to uncover all of the thoughts and beliefs we’re holding about ourselves so that we can become fully conscious of them. Being “fully conscious” of them means seeing through any and all falsity that they represent. When this occurs, they no longer have a hold over us.

A belief based in falsity is any thought or story that prevents us from knowing our inner most truth…that we’re pure love and light. Since “self-sabotage”, in the ultimate sense, is sabotaging our ability to know our inner most nature, the process is much deeper than replacing a negative self-identity with a positive self-identity.

It’s about going beyond self-identification with our ego, whether or not that’s been historically positive or negative.

Now, I realize this goes against the big push towards a positive self-image that the self-development world works to foster. That’s because the self-development world is primarily focused on creating happiness within the ego-mind (i.e., happiness through achievement) and I’m focused on getting us to go beyond the ego-mind (i.e., knowing happiness without conditions).

We must come to know that we are worthy, not because of a conditioned mindset made possible through positive affirmations, but because we are each a child of God. There is nothing we need do, have or become to be worthy of knowing the divinity that lives inside of us as us.

Knowing this divinity—pure love and light—is our birthright. It doesn’t matter where we did or didn’t grow up, who our parents are or aren’t, what school we did or didn’t go to, what job we do or don’t have, or what our reputation is or isn’t…beneath all of this ego identification, we’re pure spirit made in the image of God.

The real goal in any spiritual endeavor is to consciously know our own divinity. It’s not to create a conditioned mindset that says “I am worthy because of xyz”, but, rather, it’s to know our inherent worthiness, regardless of any outer conditions.

Using a conditioned mindset to know our worthiness limits us to living (and operating) from a world of beliefs when there is something much deeper to be known and lived from.

Beliefs live within the mind…a place where ego-identification is still prevalent. Our minds must be free so that spirit has a place to thrive, unconstrained.

Real inner work is needed to know this place and it begins with an openness to its existence, as well as a willingness to know it. It means not settling for the belief that we’re pure love and light, but actually doing the necessary work to consciously know that we are pure love and light.

All of my work is aimed at pointing us in this direction. It’s about pointing out all that is false in our path so that we can come to know what is ultimately true. And ego is false; whether it exists in us as a negative or positive self-identity…it is false.

There is something more to be known…something that liberates us from fear, limitation and constraint…something that frees us to love without agenda, to shine without needing recognition, to give without expectation.

To know this truth, you must be willing to root out each of the stories that create a mindset of conditional worthiness…

Sit with these stories. Examine them. Ask if and how they impact the conscious recognition of the truth that lies within you. Then, let go of each story or belief that blocks you from knowing and expressing your inner most truth.

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To knowing your inner most truth,

Shanna

Coaching Testimony: “Shanna listened patiently, asked appropriate questions, and met me with compassion and understanding. She identified the source of my pain and helped me to see that once I was able to separate the my emotional ego from the true issues at hand, I could effect change.  Most of all, by the end of our coaching session, I felt much more peaceful than I had felt in weeks.  Shanna led me through the ego to the spiritual solution and I am very grateful.” —P.K.

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