Facing our fears and self-doubts is not always easy.

But then again, I’m sure that fits into the no shit category.

Speaking of fecal matter…without it, there would be no compost to mulch in the gardens of our inner tapestries.

From a consciousness perspective, we have to be willing to get our hands dirty, get down with the stink, and venture into the cave’s darkness so that we can awaken the light to experience the sustenance of life.

This cyclical process is the power of alchemy.

Furthermore, it is even harder to avoid facing our fears and self-doubts head on by getting seduced by our projections of them.

What I mean by that it is that scarier to think about the mights that tend to rise to the surface of our consciousness when we entertain our fears and self-doubts.

Just as an example, saying to yourself, “if I do this, then the chips might fall here or there and that will be terrifying, out of my control and I can’t have that.”

Like a toddler, the experience makes it tempting to close your eyes and say, “I’m not listening!”

From this place, spiritual bypassing appears to be a preferable path of least resistance by avoiding facing our fears and self-doubts and examining them directly.

But with faith and trust, sometimes we just need to surrender to the Universe and let the chips fall where they may for growth to occur.

However, at the end of the day…it takes more energy to put a band-aid on the wound of fear and self-doubt than it does to examine their origins with radical curiosity, empathy, forgiveness, and self-acceptance.

It is possible; as well as a real felt-sense experience to be kind to our minds, and learn to be gentle on ourselves.

As humans, we all get insecure.

Of course, it does appear easier to fear what we don’t understand.

That’s why self-examination and awareness are key dynamics to allowing the light to illuminate the shadows.

Just as an example, I know someone close to me who made a conscious choice to “stay poor” as a way to mitigate his greed.

But greed is merely a part of the human condition and an emotional reality that visits us periodically.

And yet, to deny any emotion or feeling just energizes it; as in what we resist persists.

Like any thoughts, we don’t get rid of greed by pretending it isn’t there, pushing it away or trying to throw it in the trash.

Moreover, these have been institutional isms, or ‘Good Ole Boy’ forms have been set up by the Establishment to protect forms of oppression. Denial of them just perpetuates more oppression. The Code of Silence is designed to keep them hidden and therefore unexamined.

Truly, I remember thinking that way when the voice of trauma was more in control of my life. Identification with that voice became a security in my consciousness, like a pacifier or binky that helps an infant soothe themself when their neurological system is compromised. It’s that experience that many adults know that is captured by the statement, “I don’t feel safe!”

That line of thinking begs the question…

Do I want to merely exist in a bubble during my time here or do I want to really live?

Moving past our clever excuses and getting out of our comfort zone promotes the Constitutional Preamble’s General Welfare of experiencing life’s bounty.

Happiness as a way of life recognizes that all the reflections in the mirror are revealing the wisdom of awareness.

May all Beings be in alignment with God Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness, Unity Consciousness, Diversity within Unity, Inner Peace and the Universal Pillars of Love and Truth.

Ari