Saturday, May 21, 2011

Are you cheating on yourself...with the other you?


Ok, so there’s the real you, and your mistress - the work you.


Sure, some folks are lucky enough to have manifested a real passion into their daily work lives; claiming no desire whatsoever to tip-toe around town in a wig and sunglasses, pretending to be something or someone that is anything but themselves. These folks have risen to the task of being who they want to be, and who they who they want to be happens to be who they actually are.

But for many, their real life and work life couldn’t be more at odds - a day at the office apes a scandalous affair; drawing the shades at Motel 6 for a sloppy liaison with the "other," until it’s time to return to the comfort, peace and familiarity of a place called “real me”.  It seems for decades, billions of men and women have been sneaking behind their own backs - spawning results of half-lived lives, half the time, half-way with half as much enthusiasm, and, sadly, half as much joy.

That is a lot of cheating.

It's amazing how so many people willingly adopt the concept that we, as ourselves, are not quite good enough for this world; tieing our shoes, straightening our get-up...and heading out for the well-footed path - despite its potholes, pitfalls and anesthetizing terrain; falsely believing, that the "other"... is still the better hand.

Sounds like a dicey gamble to me.


Here’s a thought. What if the two of  "you" joined forces? What if, in fact, the real you became the work you?  In Marianne Williamson’s book A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, she says,


"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Kind of makes you want to hang up the wig, huh? 

So...what If we all decided it was time to stop hiding; to stop playing small and let our own light shine. And while the fear of losing a popular and predictable existence may still lurk in our head, what if we made some room for the exhilaration of an evolving and deeply meaningful one; a life that is powerful beyond all measure.

What if we stopped cheating and began a trusting and faithful relationship ... with ourselves?

Just sayin'.