There is a prison many of us live in, I call it “The Prison of the Self-Righteous”. Oh, could I have all the days back I spent there-days in which I lived in the dark, thinking I was free.

In this murky place we hide our own feelings of wrongness with the puffy arrogance of  righteousness.  We forget our own fragile glass house and throw mighty stones at others.  We seek to hide our dark deeds with egregious judgement of others. We inflict suffering and as it goes, a double measure of angst showers us with karmic fallout.  Until.

Until we awaken to the realization that we can forgive ourselves and others by seeing that we all possess varying degrees of light and darkness.  No one passes the perfect gauntlet, we are both the blind and the sighted as we stumble, fall and rise again-and again.

The “Prison of the Self Righteous” has an unlocked swinging door. Within its dank walls are the suffering slaves to judgement-and just a few step away-the sun shines on the forgiven.

In brilliant prose, mystic Kahlil Gibran speaks of children, he says, “Your children are not your children.  They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you, but not from you, and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.”

When we come to know this truth, it sets both the child and parent free.

A loving parent protects, teaches, guides and sets its young free.  Free to express Life in its own way-march to its own drummer-make its own music.

I brought forth a child and called him Jared.  He is free and

loved unconditionally as he finds his way, follows his path, and make his own music.

Happy Birthday Jared.  (Birthday boy on far right)

Love

Mom

Today I looked at you and I saw me.  I thought it was you-mean tempered, a coward, betrayer of my trust. I thought it was your face in the mirror I saw-red, bloated with rage, a familiar mouth spewing words of judgement and blame.

But, no-I was mistaken.

It was and always is me disguised as you. I forgot and I am sorry.

Plates shift beneath the earth-pressure builds-this intense pressure is relieved by the earth moving-an earthquake.  Critical mass is reached, correction is made, balanced is restored.

In ignorance we build our world on unstable ground. We become victims of what we don’t know.  Sometimes we become victims of what we do know.

Either way, regardless of its cause, when disaster occurs, it becomes what IS.  Then what we do with what IS becomes our defining moment.

What was before the “what is” can be examined, now or later, and learning from it can be chosen.  However, in the acute disaster, whatever it is, we can choose primal survival behavior or access our evolved self and rise above the “me against you” separation.

Can we?  What do you think?

What Is A Gift? 

• Something given without any return expected (Webster).
• A transfer of property with nothing given in return (legal).

How often do we really give a gift without any return expected? If we measure holiday gift giving against Webster’s definition- how are we doing?

Religious traditions teach us “as you give, so shall you receive”. In other words-what we give we get.

This holiday season and throughout the year, let’s consider a heart-centered change in our giving.

Without concern for personal gain, we give to others from our own sense of completeness. 

This gift can be a material object or the offering of our time and talent, content doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, from heartfelt giving, the gift is a symbolic reminder of our Love and Unity with one another and with all that is.

This holiday season, whatever the gift, let us offer it with unconditional love.

“As you give, so shall you receive”.

Karen Louise RN, RHT

Registered Hypnotherapist   Balanced Living Coach

Mount Vernon, WA 98273

360-840-8032

awakenaware.com