Sunday, March 14, 2010

Getting Unstuck

Sometimes my old, habitual thought patterns hit me like a ton of bricks and take my breath away.  I intend to let them go; I even believe I have moved past them, only to have them jump out of the shadows when I least expect it.  I'm not talking about the small stuff.  I'm talking about those really huge fears that our intellect tells us can't possibly be true, but in that deeper, unconscious part of us where a seed of doubt has been planted, roots struggle to take hold.  It is that place of "but what if" all that I know in my heart is true about existence really isn't?  My knowing, and spiritual practice, usually keep this voice in perspective, but then some event suddenly triggers old, fearful thinking, and I am lost in it. 

The Berkeley Psychic Institute calls these "core pictures," the ideas we've accepted from outside of us that take us farthest from our truth, and seem the hardest to gain seniority over.  I know that these stuck places are what make us human, and provide moments of immeasurable grace when we re-claim the truth.  But when I'm in the middle of it, I'm just stuck.  And it makes me wonder, what do we do when we're in the middle of a big fat lie, but it really feels like the truth?  In that moment, what can we do to remember?

When I am stuck in a core picture, my first instinct is to fight it.  In an effort to not be uncomfortable, I try to convince myself that I am not stuck, and I end up making excuses, or competing, or trying to control the outcome.  Admitting to myself that I am stuck, in pain or in fear, is the most important part of getting unstuck.  It is a way to see the light in the darkness.  Once I acknowledge that I am lost, healing pours to me from countless sources, an unexpected hug, remembering to use a certain tool, or to slow down and be in tune with that my body needs in the moment. 

It is important in those moments to stop in order to let my answer come to me.  That means acknowledging that I am hurting and afraid, and that is not always easy to do.  But trying to override it doesn't help; what we try to avoid tends to pursue us with greater vigor.  As God said, through Neale Walsh in Conversations With God, "You can't hear my truth until you stop trying to tell me yours."

What I can do now, in my grace-filled moment of remembering, is be grateful that every time I have stopped and faced the monster that was chasing me, I have not been overcome, but held in love, restored to peace, and graced yet again with knowing a truth so sweet that I can't understand how I could ever have doubted it.

I know that I will find myself again in doubt, on my perfect path of forgetting and remembering.   And I give thanks in advance for the gift of getting stuck in darkness, and then finding my way to the light.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

8 comments:

  1. This post really spoke to me, Sherry. I just wanted to add: when you feel like you are stuck, gently remind yourself; "It is only my MIND which is stuck, the "I" which is my core being does not have identification with the Mind and its irrational preoccupation with thought, therefore I do not have to remain feeling stuck, I am free to move on once again."

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  2. And that is the beauty of life-realizing that getting stuck is like the seed breaking through the husk. Really enjoyed your sage advice to be grateful for that process before it happens, and it will. Wonderful writing and fits so well with you 'Declare Yourself'

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  3. Awareness is always the shovel that digs us out of that stuckness. I enjoyed this - thanks. I'll be reading you past posts.

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  4. Hi Sherry, Love your blog! You are so right ~ and this post really touches the core of our existence. I would only add that the healing "stuff" is always available; however, we don't always see it or open to its great evolutionary power.

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  5. Hi Sherry,

    Thanks for the invite to check out your blog. I've subscribed & will try to keep up with everything you write.

    In regards to this post; What I've learned to do is discover what the triggers are for these events. Once we understand what triggers the event we can discover the original trigger & re-associate it why a happier response. The mind can re-learn what we need so we truly leave these old memories & events behind us...trust in the power of your mind & letting go will become much easier.

    Hope it helps,

    hugs,

    Bill

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  6. Sherry,

    A great post. We tend to feel that we have conquered all the demons, only to have some news ones, or old ones, reemerge. Good explanation of that happening.

    Cheryl

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  7. I struggle with negative thoughts of myself in my mind, usually hearing my own voice or someone elses voice, who had put me down, judged me, or verbally abused me. I just have a hard time rewriting or rerecording these tapes with positive messages of myself. Just when i think I'm feeling very confident and proud of myself, i tear myself right back down with negative, untrue thoughts of myself.

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  8. I, also read Neale Donald Walsch Conversations books. Brought me back to my spirituality! :-)

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