I used to think spiritual growth meant accumulating more knowledge, more practices, more hours in meditation. For years, I believed I needed six hours a day of spiritual practice to be truly dedicated. Since I couldn’t manage that schedule, I felt unqualified for the ministry I felt called to serve.

I was playing small by clinging to false beliefs about what spiritual dedication looked like.

Then I discovered something that changed everything:

it’s not about the hours you spend in spiritual practice—it’s about being mindful throughout the day. But even more importantly, it’s about what you’re willing to release.

Think about the current political climate and stories of foreign influence. When people take money, goods, or favors from questionable sources, they become compromised. They can be manipulated and blackmailed because they’re attached to something they shouldn’t have accepted in the first place.

Spiritual attachments work the same way.

When we have an addiction to that glass of wine at the end of the day, that cigarette, that sugar rush, that person’s approval—those attachments compromise us. They become the gods of our world, and we end up playing small because we’re serving them instead of Love.

I’ve lived this experience FOR DECADES and it left me feeling despair.

For the several years, I had no permanent home. I was traveling, releasing attachments to place, to comfort, to the familiar. I even felt called to give up coffee for a summer—not because I needed to, but because my intuition whispered, “Give it up for a while.” It’s about releasing the attachment, not the thing itself.

Life is always training us how to RISE UP if that’s what we’re interested in.

This spiritual path isn’t about deprivation or punishment. We don’t have to give up our relationships, our homes, or the things we enjoy. But we do need to give up our attachments to them—the needing, the craving, the “I can’t live without them” mentality.

Here’s what I’ve learned counseling spiritual seekers for decades: the blocks to Love won’t reveal themselves until we’re willing to give them up. It’s a frustrating paradox, but one that requires faith. We have to be willing to let go before we can see clearly what’s been holding us back.

When I finally released my attachment to being “especially good” to balance out feeling “especially bad,” everything shifted. I stopped trying to manage my image and started focusing on what was true. I realized that wanting to enjoy the things of this world while making them our gods keeps us always searching and never finding.

The real invitation is to be in the world but not of it. To recognize that this 3D experience is like a video game we’re playing. Instead of competing to beat others or accumulate the most points, we can choose to see through the illusion entirely.

A Course in Miracles tells us our thoughts and beliefs combine into a power that can literally move mountains—but they can also create mountains of obstacles, pain, and self-sabotage. When we’re avoiding our inner work because we’re attached to staying small and safe, we’re identified with a limited self that believes it has no power.

But we can access infinite power by tuning into Love itself.

We can channel the power of Love into our experience rather than trying to generate it from our ego.

This is our golden opportunity. The world needs healers who’ve learned to release their attachments, who’ve done their forgiveness work, who can stand as demonstrations of what’s possible. We need spiritual leaders who aren’t compromised by their addictions to being right, being special, or being safe.

If you’re feeling called to serve but something’s holding you back, look at your attachments. What are you unwilling to release? That might be exactly what’s keeping you playing small.

God qualifies the called. Your willingness to let go qualifies you for miracles.  Let’s not wait any longer.  It’s time to live our miraculous life.

TODAY – Join for Sundays with Spirit – Inspiration and Music to lift you up!  It’s completely FREE, but you do have to register. Click here to register now.

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL – Are you ready to stop playing small? I’m offering an online retreat that starts on September 5. It’s one of the most effective and successful things I’ve done. People repeat it 3 and 4 times because they get so much out of it. If you feel like you might be playing small in some area of your life – this could be your breakthrough! Plan for your success and we’ll do it together – click here to learn more about the Stop Playing Small Online Retreat in September. It’s on Early Bird Special right now! If you’re thinking of taking this, you can combine it with Finding Freedom From Fear – both are on Early Bird Special, and you get an EXTRA DISCOUNT if you register for both right now!

NEW ACIM PODCAST EPISODE: my topic is The 3 Lies That Create Anger (And the One Truth That Dissolves It). In this episode, I explore how anger is fundamentally a form of self-sabotage rooted in the projection of separation and the belief that we’re victims rather than the dreamers of our dream. Drawing from A Course in Miracles Chapter 6, I shared my personal journey from being a chronically angry person – like “a pot boiling on the stove” – to discovering that anger can only occur when we believe we’ve been attacked, that retaliation is justified, and that we bear no responsibility for our experience. The profound truth is that taking complete responsibility for everything we see and feel, without blame or projection, is the only path to peace, joy, and freedom – and when we model this for others instead of allowing ourselves to be victims, we create miraculous healing for everyone involved.