Take any group of savvy, transformation-loving folks who’ve…
✔️ read the books
✔️ taken the seminars
✔️ journalled till their fingers went numb
✔️ put in the hours on “personal development” and “spiritual growth”…
Ask them, “What’s stopping you?”
And you can bet your dragon’s dollar you’ll get this answer:
“The only thing stopping me is ME.”
The person answering gets to feel all smart and self-developed because they see themselves as the source of the problem.
They aren’t hiding behind excuses by blaming circumstances or other people, no sir. They’re too smart for that.
Except I don’t buy it.
It’s a case of mistaken identity.
Before warrior Steph takes this one on, let me just say: Me, too.
Not so long ago, I would have told you the same thing.
“I’m sabotaging myself.”
“I’m in my own way.”
“I’m the problem.”
The reason I’m all hot and bothered about this today is probably because I am have been there myself.
Now, back to my rant.
The thing stopping you isn’t you.
It’s insecure thought. Doubt. Fear. Judgement.
And the you who feels stopped isn’t you, either.
Well, hold up a sec, Steph. That sounds bonkers. What do you mean I’m not me?
(I did say this was a case of mistaken identity, didn’t I?)
It sure feels like you are…
Your thoughts
Your beliefs
Your history
Your patterns
Your story
Your preferences
Your habits
…but the real you is the space all of that appears inside.
The real you is the spark of life itself. And that spark can’t be stopped by anything.
That spark doesn’t sabotage itself. It doesn’t need personal development or spiritual growth. It doesn’t need to be better.
It’s already whole. Perfectly itself and always will be, equipped with everything it needs to do anything it desires.
The you that “stops itself” is what some people call the Ego. (aka thought that looks like it’s about you.) It’s the story of yourself – not the real thing.
And that’s not you.
So what’s really stopping you?
Well, if there was a thing actually stopping you, it would be a misunderstanding.
An illusion. A mirage.
A thought you forgot was just a thought.
The misunderstanding that those insecure thoughts in your head mean something about you or about life, and that they should be listened to.
The illusion that those thoughts can hurt you or protect you.
They can’t. They’re illusions, and they dissolve like vapor when you start to see how transient and fickle they truly are.
Without that illusion (thought) or the story of yourself (more thought) there’s just…you. The real you.
And the real you is unstoppable.
If you want something and you can do it, you will.
Unstoppable.
And like I said, I’m not immune to this. I fall for the grand illusion of thought only every hour (minute?) of every day.
But the moment I land back in the space of being me, right here in the present, makes everything clear again.
There’s nothing stopping me. Just the thought I’ve made up that says, “I can’t.”
Without that, there’s only what I do and don’t do.
Even if I’m still playing dress up as a dragon-girl who panics speaking Portuguese to locals and rebels against cliches by ranting in her daily email.
Yours in love and play,
Steph 🐉♥️
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