Fixing Redefining

Do you ever feel like you're trying to improve in some area of your life, but it's just not happening? Like you're coercing yourself to be something that you're not, or playing tug-of-war with some unidentifiable force within yourself?

It's true that sometimes we need to carefully consider whether the change we want to make is authentic and coming from the right place, but here's a little secret that might just transform the way you think about change itself:

Our goal is not to change what is, but to reveal what it really is.

In other words, instead of improvement being some kind of change to the fundamental nature of your life, it's actually more of a change to the external façade of your life that can reveal its true, fundamental reality. 

This idea really stems from the theological principle that God doesn't change. After all, to have change, you need some kind of defined "nature" or "behavior", and God has no such thing. What really changes is our perspective of and relationship with Him. Things like goodness, perfection, existence, and blessing are all just ways we experience the unified Divine reality underlying everything, and their opposites are just the absence of that experience.

This applies on a mundane level, too. When you're doing the right thing, you're exposing the real you. When it's the opposite, that's just a façade you've come to associate with yourself.

You might not feel this way right now, but it's how the universe operates. 

So when you're frustrated that you keep trying to fix something but it's not working, maybe you need to take a step back and consider that what you want is already there, hiding under the surface. The decisions and changes you make may be the same, but they'll feel completely different.

Instead of defining yourself by what's wrong and feeling the burden of forcing it to be different or creating something new, you're defining yourself by the intrinsic goodness that merely needs to be revealed. 

And in the process, you may just discover that those "improvements" don't really reflect the true nature of things or who you really are, and they'll need an update. But as you dig deeper and refine how you think about your existence, you'll be redefining everything around you and experiencing life on a higher level. And when I say "experiencing",  I mean physically, emotionally, and intellectually. It's a gradual process, but it's real.

So next time you get angry, remember that you aren't fundamentally "an angry person". You are a person who sometimes gets overwhelmed and whose biochemistry sometimes reacts with anger. Reveal the patience and kindness you already have.

Next time you eat that thing that detracts from your diet, remember that you don't fundamentally lack self-restraint and you are not your weight. You are a person who sometimes has cravings and sometimes reacts by eating the wrong thing. Reveal the discipline you already have.

Next time you do something wrong, remember you are not fundamentally "a sinner". You are a pure soul that does not change, but is sometimes hidden by faulty perceptions and behaviors. Reveal the soul you always have been and will always be. It's who you are now, here, in this moment.

Your burden is to see the good that's already there, not create it from nothing. Feel yourself getting lighter.