Andrea Iapaolo, Wise Women Productions

One of the greatest things about being human, and there are many, is our ability to learn. Using our free will to decide, our consciousness to commit and our bodies to practice, we can learn anything. Most of our learning takes place, without choice or consent, during our childhood and unfortunately, we have been led to believe that once we are educated, working and contributing to the system, there’s little more to learn. We are all beginning to uncover a greater truth about learning, not only does much of what we learn growing up, not serve us in this ever changing world but also that continued, intentional learning, as an adult is one of the the keys to experiencing lasting joy, real transformation, purposeful relationships, sovereignty, health, wealth and longevity.

A lot of what we learn growing up, is based on a paradigm of fear. Competition, lack, material achievements, position, appearances, duty, expectation and money, all severely limit our experience of ourselves and each other. If we are to thrive in this life, we must use our great capacity for learning in order to transcend our present awareness, change our bad habits and decide to end our suffering.

This, is of course beginning to happen on an individual level right now. Mindset work is nothing new, affirmations, declarations, listening to positive messages while you sleep, hypnosis and the power of suggestion have been around for some time, but what I am talking about is engaging with the kind of inner work that intentionally transforms our awareness and experience of ourselves, letting us in on who we really are, so that we can live from our common truth and a deep connection to ourselves, each other and our planet.

It is in us to do, the desire to take part in this work is in all of us, only the decision to do it has not been made.

We all live from our past, through our pain and out of habit. Our past pain and suffering lets us know when to feel outraged, offended and sad or when to feel worthless, guilty and ashamed. We are controlled by our pain and our emotional/mental reactions to that pain. The same cycles of pain, suffering, reaction and protection, play out over and over again in our relationships, in our bodies, in our minds and throughout our adult lives. The only way to change this is to learn how to trust, surrender, allow, take care of ourselves, love ourselves, share, open up and give. While it may seem like a tall order to change a lifetime of fear and self loathing, all it really takes is a decision, a commitment and some practice.

Decision

“Make a decision and witness the world around us rearrange itself to accommodate and support that decision.” WWP

Free will is our birthright, we are born with the power to decide and it is one of the most underutilized powers on the planet. Most of the decisions in our lives are already made for us, all laid out in front of us, just waiting for us to comply. In fact, we almost never make decisions that truly benefit ourselves, because they will probably look different than the decisions we are expected to make and we are far too afraid of their unknown outcomes and of course, what others will think.

Do we really want to continue suffering and creating pain and problems for ourselves, for the rest of our lives? If not, then we must decide that there is a better way, intentionally seek it out and learn it, by practicing it.

Everyone of us on this planet will sooner or later decide to stop suffering and get to the daily business of their inner work. For now, this decision is largely made out of necessity, when our lives collapse in on us and we no longer know who we are, what we’re doing or why we’re here. Rock bottom, the end of the line, the dark night of the soul. One day perhaps, we will decide to change before we fall apart, but for now, for each of us, that collapse forces us to make a decision and it is currently our most real opportunity for change.

Commitment

“When we make a commitment, we are immediately and repeatedly challenged with the opportunity to deepen it or abandon it.” WWP

Let’s be clear, the only commitment we can ever make, is to ourselves and for ourselves. Everyone and everything, we think we are committing to is simply a mirror allowing us to objectify our commitment, share it, declare it and make it “real”.

Making a commitment to our daily inner work is a commitment to finding out who we really are and it is also the beginning of the most difficult work we will ever do. We are immediately faced and challenged with our own darkness in every relationship and circumstance. We very quickly find out that we lie to, cheat, steal from and manipulate the world around us in order to assuage our fears and uncomfortable emotions. We are charlatans, betraying ourselves, over and over again. It is difficult and painful to come to terms with, but it is also unintentional. It is a bad habit we picked up when we were children and it has become our default reaction as adults. Making a commitment to our inner work, immediately unearths all of this and so the hard work begins. To learn how to sit in the darkness and walk through the shadows, to face our inauthentic self and to simply love her anyway, is the only way to lift the illusion of the darkness. Commitment is an ongoing, every moment decision. We must recommit to ourselves everyday, with everyone, in every situation.

Practice

“The practice of spirituality, is the decision to lead with love instead of fear, in the most difficult, uncomfortable and inconvenient moments.” WWP

There is a difference between spiritual practice and the practice of spirituality. Meditation, breathwork, journaling or yoga, are some of the spiritual practices that keep us sane, centered and calm. Spiritual practice builds our emotional, mental and physical stamina, so that we have the wherewithal to engage with ourselves when we are triggered, afraid or uncomfortable.

The practice of spirituality however, is intentionally going into the discomfort and instead of repeating the same habit of reaction and protection, we change our mind. We step down from ourselves, step back and humble ourselves to the truth; we don’t know who we are or what’s actually going on. It’s when we stop. We stop hiding behind semantics, we stop using our pain to be righteous and we stop pretending that we are our suffering. Only then have we invited ourselves to find out the truth. This, is the practice of spirituality. It’s in our everyday lives, in a lineup, when we’re tired or hungry or when someone is unkind. It shows up in the way we breath or sit or move and our opportunities to practice spirituality are endless.

To be open minded is to learn, and to practice, like a virtuoso practices her instrument, is to reinforce a new habit, a better habit, one that serves our longing for peace, self love and connection. We are peace, love and connection, but we won’t know it until we practice remembering it and learn to live in the habit of who we really are.