Secrets of Spiritual Happiness
Secret #33 -- Open Yourself to Inner Guidance
By Sharon Janis
Secrets of Spiritual Happiness
Secret #33 -- Open Yourself to Inner Guidance
By Sharon Janis
Sometimes, we think we're supposed to fix everything in our lives, and maybe we're really only supposed to learn something from the situation.
- Louise Hay
One helpful secret of spiritual happiness is to learn how to teach, guide, and lecture yourself. Don't always wait for someone else to lecture you. Don't think that you have to keep buying books, going to workshops, and seeking knowledge from others. That's all fine, but you can also learn to find wisdom and guidance inside yourself.
Even our choices of outer knowledge can be motivated by inner guidance. If we do want to enjoy a lot of outer classes, workshops, audio books, and other sources of external wisdom, we can still allow our inner guidance to help us choose from where we will receive our outer guidance .
Once you realize that a great wise soul exists inside of you, you'll be able to seek answers within your own depths of wisdom. If you have made a mistake, you'll be able to contemplate and learn from what you did. You don't have to chew your head off or criticize yourself into the ground when something goes wrong. Be honest and loving with yourself. Guide yourself, and invite your wise and compassionate soul to have a stronger voice within your being.
Our recognition and acknowledgment of the inner wisdom is a kind of invitation for it to speak more clearly. Actually, the inner guide is always speaking - the universal soul exists inside each one of us, and speaks to and through everybody. Our job is to learn how to listen to that pure note above the cacophony of not-so-wise thoughts and sounds.
Inside yourself, invite your own wise soul, your own bit of divinity, to speak to you. You can also ask for guidance from your own clear intelligence, or even from your knowledgeable subconscious mind, which has access to all kinds of information that your conscious mind doesn't. Open to whatever within yourself is greater than the usual realm of hashed and rehashed superficial experiences and thoughts. Turn your attention inside, and let your inner wisdom guide you and give you advice.
You know more than you live; we all know more than we live. I know a lot more than I live, but I have also tended to seek guidance within and to lecture myself from within. And in my books, I lecture myself, and you get to listen in.
If you're feeling upset about something, take time to talk within your mind. Even while talking with others about whatever events may be sparking your feeling of upset, use those discussions to explore your own thoughts, and to gather advice and information that may help you more effectively figure things out and heal your troubles. Don't just share your woes over and over without purpose, because the more you repeat your troubles, the stronger they are likely to become. Remember how powerful your words and thoughts are, and with that remembrance, seek guidance within yourself.
If you're feeling unhappy or upset, remind yourself of what you know, what you've read, what you've learned, and what you've thought during happier times. If this doesn't come easily, try picking up some uplifting spiritual writings to see if they'll spark your inner wisdom. Then, enter your deeper knowledge that exists even beyond what you've read, learned, and thought. Trust God, trust the universe, trust your own great Self, and open up to your inner guidance.
Teaching, guiding, or lecturing yourself doesn't mean that you put yourself down any kind of demeaning or judgmental way. Guide yourself lovingly. Talk to yourself with kindness. If you're feeling angry, lecture yourself as though you were your best friend, trying to help you to get through this anger.
If you're feeling sorrowful, ask your inner wise soul to remind you that grace can work through a broken heart to create an even greater space for joy, and to teach us to have greater surrender, humility, or compassion. While respecting whatever emotions you are feeling, remind yourself to always have faith. Talk to yourself about what you truly believe, and remind yourself of the great wisdom that you already know. This is what many spiritual sages refer to when they say that you are ultimately your own guru. In this view, a good outer guru exists to guide you into a stronger relationship with the universal guru or guide who exists everywhere, including right inside of you.
Guide yourself. Contemplate deeper meanings behind the experiences of life. Give yourself challenges and disciplines that will help to refine and uplift you. Figure out what is causing you problems in your life, and open your mind and heart to the guidance of inner wisdom and intuition. Ask yourself how you can resolve or transform those troubling causes. Discern whether to best heal those problems with an internal shift of attitude, or through external actions, or both. Help yourself, guide yourself, and be your own best friend, always. This is a great path to spiritual happiness.
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