Each person walking this earth has an inherent belief in their own weakness and deficiency – unless they’ve already directly healed it. How do we heal it?
#1 stop affirming it.
#2 extend Love, express Love, be loving.
Almost everyone has self-doubt and the majority of people, even those who seem to be strong and tough, even the biggest bully, has punishing self-doubt. For many the self-doubt is so strong that it’s disabling, it’s crippling. The self-doubt is a FULL STOP on people’s willingness to trust their heart.
Without the ability to trust our heart, there is no happiness.
It may seem strange to say, but one of the most SELF-destructive things we can do is to energize the self-doubt of others and yet it happens all the time.
When people don’t trust themselves, and their own heart and ability to discern what’s true and not, then they won’t trust someone else. It’s so easy to encourage people’s doubt.
Folks in the Masterful Living community often tell me that trust is their major issue. ACIM tells us that trust is the #1 characteristic of God’s Teachers.
We can definitely learn to trust and it’s worth EVERY bit of energy that we can put into it because without trust there is no faith and with faith all things are possible. This is why developing trust is such an important part of my curriculum.
Without faith, nothing of value is possible.
We can accomplish a lot even with lots of fear, but that doesn’t mean it’s worthwhile.
We must learn to discern what is of value and ONLY trust in Love will give us that. There is no other way.
When we aren’t building on a foundation of Love, we’re building on sinking sands.
We undermine our own sense of self-worth and trustability when we’re unloving. There are few things more unloving than to cast doubt into someone’s heart about themselves – or another.
Consider the times when you were plucking up the courage to follow your heart or your intuition and someone cast doubt and you decided against your heart’s desire and your intuition.
Consider a time when you barely had enough strength or willingness to follow your passion and someone said the smallest thing, and that was all you needed to shut yourself down and back away from taking the next step where there might have been some encouragement.
People project their own self-doubt onto others all the time. I’ve done it thousands of times. And I’ve had to forgive myself for being a detriment to others.
Yes, back in the day, I thought I was telling people the truth, but I was only projecting my own self-doubt.
There’s so much to forgive ourselves for when we feel guilty and ashamed of our past – AND we can get it through it quickly if we’re willing.
When we foster self-doubt in others, it’s as if we’re pouring concrete on them. I remember a couple of years ago, I had the strong intuition to buy a certain stock. I don’t have much money to invest, so I was cautious. I spoke to someone I thought knew about these things and they said that investing in stocks was tricky and risky. It sent a stab of doubt through me and I didn’t do it.
If I had bought 1 share of this stock, I would have made close to $6,000 on just the one share. I trusted the doubts of the person I spoke to about it rather than my intuition. And I learned from that. My learning became my benefit. My learning became my profit and I’m glad that I can see it. The fact that I can see my benefit shows me that I didn’t block the learning with unforgiveness.
Because I didn’t judge myself for it, there was nothing to forgive and I was free to learn from my choice. Now, I am even more dedicated to following my intuition and I share that with others who can benefit from it. There is no loss.
When we choose to love and encourage, and to operate from truth, from being generous of heart, every seeming loss is turned to a success.
The only failure is to not choose Love.
Yet, no matter how many times we failed to choose Love, we can start again now, reap the rewards, and share the benefits. That’s the story of my life.
So many folks close their hearts in order to protect themselves from being hurt.
This only widens the wound until it covers our whole life.
In our Masterful Living Community we join together to write 40 self-forgiveness letters in 40 days and people experience so much healing that they keep going and do 60, 90, 100 days. They clear and clear and clear and they get their courage back, they get their strength and happiness back as a result. Fear dissolves not through some magic, but because the causes of fear are being eliminated.
We must forgive ourselves – our happiness depends upon it.
Once we start that journey we can reach out a hand to another,
and then they can reach out a hand.
I see it all the time.
It’s inspiring!
It’s so beautiful to watch someone who feels unqualified and insecure learn to pray, start with the self-forgiveness letters, practice praying out loud with a prayer partner and then develop into a small group facilitator, praying with the group, encouraging others, and sharing their successes, miracles and testimonials, as they watch their family and co-workers shift and change in the Light of their loving heart being set free.
Before you know it, they’re following their heart, and living their passion!
It doesn’t happen overnight or even in a week, but with real heart investment over the course of a year or two or three the tide completely turns.
Our happiness and wholeness depend upon our self-forgiveness. People avoid it because it feels like a daunting Pandora’s box. I certainly felt that way. But if you’re willing, you will gain a momentum that is potent and powerful.
It is the power of Love in you, that begins to become the fuel that overcomes all resistance.
This is why ACIM tells us that forgiveness is the way out of any hell we’ve made. There is no other way.
Forgiveness is the cure for self-doubt. There is no other way. No confidence in ourselves for all our gifts and talents, for our success in the world will cure the self-doubt – only releasing the causes of self-doubt will eliminate it. We can only do this through true forgiveness. And then we can be truly helpful to others too. I’ve got a FREE Forgiveness Workshop this Saturday, July 12 – please come and tell a friend or ten. Click here now to learn more.
This month my Deep Dive Workshop is Unblock the flow of Time, Energy & Money If you have issues that trigger you emotionally, causing worry, fear or doubt, this workshop is for you. We can break that habit of fear and worry, doubt and damage. Let’s do it together! I used to STRESS SO MUCH about not having enough of all kinds of things and being free of all that worry is such a game changer – now I invest my energy in things that are actually worthwhile – like FREE Forgiveness Workshops!
LATEST ACIM PODCAST EPISODE: my topic is Good VS Bad: How Do You Know Which Is Which?. In this episode, I unpack how “good” and “bad” are illusions maintained by judgment—something A Course in Miraclestells us we are incapable of making because we cannot see through all directions of time and space. I share personal stories, insights from the Manual for Teachers, and practical wisdom for living more peacefully by surrendering the ego’s constant labeling and instead choosing neutrality, trust, and humility. When we stop judging, we stop suffering—and we open ourselves to healing, joy, and true spiritual freedom.
TODAY, Sunday, join me and Tedd Swartz for Sundays With Spirit, inspiration and music in community. We rise together! It’s absolutely free, and all you need to do is register to get the zoom link.
