Self Development – Owning It!
Table of Contents
Self Development – Owning It!
What does Self Development mean to you?
So many of us involved in the myriad of pursuits within spirituality, place such importance on spiritual development. Often times we focus on courses and practises that expand our consciousness to connect and communicate with those in Spirit World. In addition, we attend those which encourage a deepening of the connection with our soul and intuition. However, it can often be the case that we focus on the spirit world, our spirit and soul and forget the human aspect. In doing so, we can then omit the importance of being human. In dedicating time and effort to understand ourselves, in a holistic way – body, mind and spirit, we create a solid platform of self development and self awareness.
Develop as a Human
I am sure many of us have heard the phrase “we are spirit having a human experience”, but how much value do we place on the human part of ourselves? We ought to place plenty, as the human is an integral part of the self. If it didn’t exist we would solely be spirit once more. We can all understand that it is our human character that makes us flawed – perfect in our imperfections, but how many of us understand our flaws and imperfections? Please note the word understand because it is in understanding ourselves that the biggest development of the self can be created.
We are all responsible for our own self development and the decisions we make within our lives. Our Guides or team that work with us from the spirit world are there to support us in any given endeavour but they do not tell us how to live our life or what to do with it. Our physical lives, the experiences, events and decisions made within it are our own to choose and bear. If spirit were to decide for us in all things, surely then we would live in a utopia? We would all have a flawless existence where everything works out for us and we never have to experience disappointment, pain or loss because spirit would be directing our every move. In reality are different, and often different to what we plan for ourselves – due to our flawed natures and ability to cope and grow from the experiences we have in life.
Our Decisions Are Ours
In making our own decisions it will naturally develop our inner guide or intuition. The outcomes of our decision making process will help us to connect with the knowledge of the feeling “yes, this is right” or often stronger still the “no, this is not right for me”. How many of us act on that feeling of this is not right or do we continue on? It is making our own decisions and especially making mistakes that we learn about ourselves – we learn more about our resilience, our willingness to adapt (to circumstances/behaviour), our sense of responsibility and reactions and so on. Self development takes place in the day to day events of life, if we take the time to reflect and refine.
How many of us have heard a contemporary “Spirit guided me to…..” or something like “well, it is what my Guides said….”? Well, we should then ask the person if they are able to make their own mind up about things! In living life believing some higher force is giving them divine guidance to behave in certain ways or do certain things diminishes their responsibility in life and by default halts their self development. Each decision is a step along our progression in understanding ourselves in this life. Each life experience, whether we chose to label it good or bad, is an opportunity to understand ourselves. Only in understanding ourselves can we understand others, our connection to spirit and the world around us and our place within it.
Flawed are We
We are flawed by the very fact we are human. None of us are perfect in all things by design. Each of us have our own strengths, characters, talents and abilities. Each of us have our own irritations, imperfections and less than pleasant aspects of our characters. It is in understanding and working with these flaws that the greatest revelations and opportunities for self development can happen. All too often we try to project a ‘love and light’ persona and attitude, trying to convince ourselves that somehow we are not affected by the darker aspects of life, people or ourselves. Yet, it is in exploring these less than pleasant traits of ourselves and experiences, we can find growth in our self development. For example, in learning to understand your intolerances of others and irritations in life you can begin to learn your moral code and what you hold of great value in your life.
In acknowledging and understanding the ‘darker’ aspects of ourselves and what (or even who!) creates a strong response, it can allow us to connect the dots in our self development – creating a map of what, how and why we get triggered into reactions and ultimately, we can manage ourselves more effectively. Moving ourselves into responding rather than reacting.
Owning Ourselves
Self development can be defined as ‘a process of consciously improving oneself in various aspects of one’s life’. It is the conscious pursuit of personal growth by improving personal skills, competencies, talent and knowledge. When we commit ourselves to take ownership of our self development and become aware of the who’s, the what’s and the why’s that exist in our nature, our lives will naturally encounter beneficial changes. We can improve our current relationships and how we build new ones, it will allow us to be more open with and less threatened by others. In being more conscious of how we interact with others, how we view ourselves and what is important within all of our relationships, we will intuitively know who and what we connect with and wish to develop a relationship with.
Prioritising our self development will improve self confidence because in allowing our authentic self to lead and be recognised by others, we naturally attract those who hold similar values and morals. Thus more life affirming relationships can be formed in the knowledge that those around you genuinely care and connect.
Commitment to Being Us
Many of us commit to a life long learning and development within our spirit work. We always endeavour to improve and strengthen our abilities within our spiritual work and practise. The same has to be said for self development. It is not limited to one stage of our life or a weeks course. Of course, we can include others for assistance in roles such as tutors, mentors, coaches and counsellors, however, a big part of self development is done by the self. We can, at times, find ourselves repeating patterns or be on a rollercoaster of a series of unpleasant events and experiences. Each one will require us to evaluate and reflect and we need time for introspection. In being open to continual and honest self development through our various experiences in life, we can then be more authentic in our work with spirit and spiritual practise.
Self development is not about crafting and creating a new way of being or denying aspects of your already unique personality. It is about allowing the truth of ourselves, all aspects of ourselves, the good and less so, to be. By not forcing or contriving anything about ourselves, we allow our authentic spirit and self to grow. By being truthful in what we need to sustain and nurture ourself in a holistic way will mean our development will be strong and capable of maintaining itself.
Imperfectly Imperfect
In owning our self development, in acknowledging our imperfections and the good bits, it will provide the firmest foundation on which to be in service to the spirit – that of another, our own and that of the world unseen. Because in being this way we will always remember that we are the conduit through which the spirit work. Knowing that conduit in all of it’s complexities, faults, strengths and intricacies we will provide a clearer and more authentic blending within our work with spirit. In this natural blending we will allow communication to happen through our personality, using our experiences and character traits as though we have an encyclopedia for those in spirit to use.
Perhaps you will join me in agreeing that, in owning our self development, taking responsibility for our decisions and being our gloriously human selves will establish our self and spiritual development on the firmest legs. We know we are spirit in human form so let’s focus and develop that with desire. In doing so, it will naturally benefit our spiritual practise and the physical life we live. We will then have created the means in which we can live consciously at our full potential.
With Love,
Helen
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