Maintaining Integrity in a Critical World

Despite the burgeoning global awareness, criticism and separateness still abound. Spiritual awakening is a process we, as a unified whole, are all going through at this time. However, spiritual growth is simultaneously a very individual pursuit. We each move along our spiritual path at a pace that is fitting to our own needs and circumstances. We can not force people to be where we are, or expect them to agree with our every move. Compassion, love and respect for ourselves and others is necessary as the world moves into a higher, unity, consciousness.

But sometimes you come face to face with a person in your life who does not understand your spirituality. A person who is stuck in separate consciousness. A person whose criticism is hard to swallow.

It’s even more difficult when this person is someone close to you.

Being ‘different’ and standing up for what you believe in, what you know to be true for you, takes courage. This week my courage was tested. Someone close to me passed judgement on my way of life, the choices I have made and my priorities.

I allowed the criticism and negativity of this person to derail me. I allowed myself to be knocked off course. My writing suffered and I stopped meditating. I went from feeling joyful and bursting with love one minute, to questioning everything I’ve come to believe in the next. As you can guess, this person has always been a big influence in my life. I wasn’t able to take their words with a pinch of salt. Instead, they seemed to bore deep into my heart and soul, and bring forth a number of personal issues I had yet to process.

One of these issues was my ability to stand up for myself, to maintain my integrity, to speak my truth. I faltered under the weight of this person’s criticism and it was a big warning sign that my personal power was still on shaky ground. I fell into despair. I wept. And I felt completely lost.

Thankfully, after a few days of self-pity and regret, my determination fought its way back to the surface. I wrote out how I was feeling, the ugly truth of it all, my fears and failings. And through that came the spark of inspiration. I went back to my meditations and connected once again to my divine essence that had been lingering in the background, waiting for me to push through this very physical, ego-driven crisis.

Once again my spiritual practices brought me back to life, back into balance with all that is love and joyful in this world. I knew then that my path is true for me, no matter what anyone else has to say. I realised that this person’s criticism and lack of understanding is more a projection of their own fears, rather than any direct attack on my choices in life.

It was a hard lesson to learn, but I see now that this person’s critical words came at just the right time in my life, as everything seems to do. I needed to be reminded that my strength comes from within, and that to maintain my integrity in this often narrow-minded world calls for my deep inner reserves of bravery.

I am courageous and brave. I am strong and powerful. My spiritual song comes forth straight from my heart and I’m excited to be a part of this world as we raise our awareness and awaken to our divinity. I can speak my truth and live my own existence from the realms of higher, unity, consciousness.

As the Louise Hay affirmation says - “I now go beyond other people’s fears and limitations.”

My journey to Reiki and beyond

Reiki came into my life, like all good things, because I listened to my intuition. I’d heard of Reiki but knew next to nothing about it or how it could possibly help me. I was going through a time of change in my life, everything was new, and I had no idea which path to choose or what to do next. And then one day, like a single snowflake falling from the sky, the word ‘Reiki’ came into my mind. I found a local Reiki Master and booked myself in for a session. I didn’t know what to expect, but I trusted that it was the right place for me.

As it turned out, my Reiki Master noticed something in me that day, something that I was not even aware of myself – a desire to study this healing art. So by the end of that first session I’d signed up to do the Reiki First Degree course. The energy had a plan for me, it would seem, and I was grateful to be along for the ride.

I often think that my attunement to the Reiki energy during my First Degree course was really my attunement to life. Not that I wasn’t alive before, but I was living a sort of half-life. A life devoid of real awareness. Reiki became my initiation into the spiritual world. I began to view things differently – with love rather than fear. I began to write - something I’d talked about doing for years. I connected to my creativity. And I began to read - devouring spiritual and New Age books. I felt my mind expanding. I was desperate to know more, to feel more, to live more. I started meditating. I started tuning into my chakras. I bought crystals. My path had become illuminated.

Reiki is energy healing but it is also a spiritual path of self-development. Working with ‘invisible’ energy, feeling and seeing its healing power, had a transformational effect on me. I felt a shift in my consciousness, as though a door had opened. Through that door was the world of unlimited potential, the place where I could connect to my infinite divine essence. A place where love and joy abound. I’ve never looked back.

Since that initial burst of spiritual awareness, I’ve continued to develop regular practices – meditation, chakra balancing, and of course writing – to maintain my connection to the divine. Reiki has become a consistent part of my life; I completed Reiki II in 2008 and later this year will do my Reiki III Master/Teacher course. I continue to move deeper on my own journey within, the journey of my soul. And Reiki is the light that guides me.