Habits of Health Weekly Meeting

What is this thing called self? Who gets to define the concept of Self for you? Some say it is made up of your own Self-Image, your Self Esteem, and what you consider the Ideal Self. But is it really?

Authentic - of undisputed origin; genuine.

Self - a person's essential being that distinguishes them from others.

Self can be totally different than what the mind tells us it is. The mind deals in duality and compares our being to others.

The Inner-Self created by the “mind” and the Authentic Self may not be the same. Ask yourself the question: “Do I allow the committee in my mind to run my daily life OR do I make conscious decisions that are always in MY best interests. Do I allow the committee in my mind to tell me who I am? Do I challenge my self-talk on a regular basis?

Who are you? Who or what do you identify as? Are you outgoing or shy? Just because you identify with one of those characteristics, does that tell you who you are?

It is easy to say that we are not our name, our work, or our ego. We are not necessarily what our parents told us we are. It is easy to say what we are not, but that does leave us with that age old question: “Who am I”?

(BSIF) (Bible Said It First) Gen: 9:6 ……..: For in the image of God He made man.

Self is who and what God designed us to be, original and authentic. We may not have the intelligence or abilities of others, but we are equal when it comes to being human.

If we leave it up to the mind / ego, it will continue to try to convince us to be something we are not. Possibly, something that someone else defined us as.

Do you allow your personality to define who you are?

That inner-self is (the you) found buried deep within the Sub-Conscious. It is composed of both thoughts and feelings, creating the emotions you feel on a daily basis. It is the Habitual patterns that exhibit themselves day after day, as outward expressions of how we feel about ourselves. It is (the you) that you perceive yourself to be, not necessarily the real, true Authentic You, God meant you to be.

In order to acknowledge the Inner-Self we must let go of DENIAL (Don’t Even kNOw I’m Actually Lying) and becoming totally HONEST with ourselves. How do we act and behave under stress? What is it we do when our triggers are pushed? Sometimes it may take an honest friend or therapist to lay it “on the line” of what they actually observe us to be like. We need to judge ourselves by the results we are experiencing in our lives. We need to take responsibility for everything going on in our lives and leave blame and being a victim by the wayside.

Someone who had been raped told me that it taught her the lesson: “The way life is for her is to be used and thrown away.” That is the reality of her inner self.

The definition of love in some people’s minds gets tangled up with abuse, if they had parents who abused them.

The Inner-Self will sometimes feel shame when there is no need to feel ashamed. The Inner-Self will sometimes feel responsible when there is no need to be responsible. This list can go on and on, you should make up your own.

By creating an honest list of who and what you are, will create an awareness and the beginning of a path to change. Pass that list by someone who knows you well and ask them to advise you as to any misconceptions you may be having about yourself.

Together (by Truly Knowing Myself) i Can

Authentic Self versus Ego

When it comes to thinking what you want to think, it is important to differentiate between what the Ego wants us to think and what the Authentic Self truly believes.

Ego puffs us up and inflates the pride portion of the self. Ego feels good when it feels important. It adds to that importance the feelings such as happy, elated, and self-gratification. When these feelings are missing, the Ego condemns us as failures.

Authentic Self operates on the opposite end of the spectrum. It relies on looking at life from an aspect of humbleness. Authentic Self empowers a person with high self-esteem and with a knowing that God didn’t create any junk.

There is a part of us (something) that observes our dreams at night. It makes no effort to interfere or make changes. It stays in the background and seems to be a spectator of everything that goes on in our lives. (The Observer!)

Does this observer / spectator disappear when we awaken? Most likely not, it just recedes to a quiet place in the mind and continues to observe the chatter that occurs during the day. It allows the conscious mind (EGO) to take over, paying attention to the senses—seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling— that bombard us during our waking hours.

Why not allow this observer to establish contact with the real YOU. Let it find out your true desires and dreams. As the real YOU becomes more powerful, realistic, and authentic, it can then start making decisions for you instead of allowing the EGO to be in charge of your life.

It is at this time that you are really following the principle of “thinking what the authentic you wants to think.” It is at this time that the authentic you takes charge, accepts responsibility for everything that has gone on and is going on in your life. You know that it is you and only you making the choices that determine the outcome of your health, joy, and wellbeing that is your life.

The Spiritual Journey within - Acquiring the Authentic You

Often times the Soul or Spirit portion of the Trilogy equation gets forgotten. You may want to call it getting in touch with the Creator.

One thing missing from most people's lives is a connection to the authentic self, the (Being) that God created.
Mind chatter, thinking all the time, continuous thought, creates an illusion. It makes it seem like we are really the creation of the committee that is doing all the thinking. Our ego, made up of that committee demands happiness and we all know that happiness is obtained through things. NOT!

A part of the Spiritual Journey, for everyone, is getting in touch with the Authentic You. To do so you must shut down or subdue the committee, the chatter in your mind.
The Bible Said It First: “Be still and know that I Am God”! Psalm 46:10 (BSIF)
With quietness comes a connection, which can be turned into a relationship.

The Authentic You is made up of the body, which consists of the (inner you) (all of the electrical and chemical energy flowing around) not just the physical shell.
The Authentic You is made up of the mind, not the committee that is always chattering, but the quiet mind, the observer. That part of the mind that stays awake and observes your dreams during the night.
The Authentic You is made up of the soul, that Spiritual Entity, that Energy, that never disappears, but moves someplace beyond at your demise.

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed. That energy upon your demise must go somewhere.

Body, Mind, and Spirit, the Trilogy, the Trinity is what makes up the Authentic You.
Make it a point, an effort, a practice to get in touch and put the Authentic Self in charge of your life. Let it determine the answer, as to whether you should practice Simple Disciplines or Slight Errors in Judgement.

Acquiring the authentic self - step one

Developing the ultimate need to find ones-self generally happens after we have hit rock bottom – The beginning of the process is letting go of the wants, wishes and selfish desires.

Until you recognize that your needs can be met without struggle or force, just the way you are - You will never find the desire to change.

Wants, desires, and needs need to be separated out. It is not a bad or undesirable thing to have a wish list, as long as it doesn’t become greater than the needs list.

Most individuals will go out of our way to get their needs met.

Many times, we will allow someone to abuse us just so that we get some attention.

We allow people to belittle us because that's what we think we deserve.
Somehow, our mind rationalizes that, if we deserve it, then we must seek it out because we need it.

Many of us are striving to get those needs met and they are needs that are held on a subconscious (unconscious mind) level we don't even know what they are!

Most individuals have pretty much turned their lives over to the committee in the mind. Part of the committee's job is to make sure that the habits we have developed stay in place. They remind us, that this is the way it should be done, don't dare change it, and if you do you will be a bad person.
That committee collectively, could be called the ego.

How do we take back our lives?
How do we become the "Authentic Self," God designed us to be?

First we must recognize the hole that we have dug for ourselves. We must realize (become aware of) the trap that we are in and the rut that keeps us doing the same thing over and over. That takes an honest evaluation of our life and how we live it. If during that evaluation, you discover characteristics about you that are unhealthy, unattractive, and causing you difficulty, become willing to make changes in those areas.

Most individuals have the idea of "instant gratification," ingrained into them, and they expect change to take place overnight. Resign yourself to the fact that this is typically a false belief and will seldom happen.

Hopefully, during that honestly valuation, you wrote down those areas, where you desire change. Look at the list, prioritize the list, and choose the change that would have the most dynamic effect on your life.

This is the actual point where change starts to take place! "In the mind." It is only when you choose, decide, to change your thinking that change will start to take place.

You can change the automatic reactions, the habits you have developed, but only if and when you decide that they can change.
Continue to tell yourself what the committee wants you to hear, that you cannot change, and that will become your truth.

The first step: give yourself permission, to accept the fact, that you can change what has seemed to be automatic behavior of the past.
Know that anything you have learned, you can unlearn, and learn something new.

May you be blessed with the feeling, of being sick and tired. May you be blessed with the realization, that where you are today, is due to the thinking you've been doing.

May you be blessed with the opening of the mind that allows you to accept, that change in thinking can happen.

May you be blessed with the ability to let go of those things of the past that have held you back.

Together (by changing my beliefs) i Can

 

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Michael McCright
Free Health Coaching – provided by the "Together i Can Group"
Together i Can Inc.
May 11, 2022

Call 619-316-6900