T H E   V A L I D   S E L F      

C h a p t e r   5


 A segment from "The Valid Self" (Copyright © 2018 by John Erickson) 
 (Kindle Link) 


Welcome
Life Welcomes You:
An Overriding Assumption




EARLY EXPERIENCES OF HAVING HATRED DIRETED TOWARD US CAN PRODUCE A TRAUMA WHICH WARPS our perceptions so much that we look at life as being a forum which has no place for us. If we judge what life has to offer us by the contemptuous demeanors and comments of the vile individuals who confront us, we'll be soundly convinced that life fundamentally rejects us. Oversensitized by solitude, some people give up on life after experiencing a consistency of rejection. They decisively assign their license-to-live to the more "worthy" breastbeater. But no being or beast who trods upon this earth has such power vested in him by any higher power, no matter how eagerly he may claim so on his own behalf. Such self-defeating images are just one of the myriad leaden adornments we've compliantly taken upon ourselves at the impassioned prodding of those who thrive on driving other people downward.

This image of our self-paralysis, as we deal with the world, grows stronger in us every time we gaze upon that world. Everyday, we identify the sights and sounds of our environment with feelings of our impotence, which are then continually triggered by the domineering voices and repellant appearances which fill our senses. Our timid reactions to these experiences soon become our comprehensive interpretation of life. From this point onward we are incapable of believing we possess any ability to overcome our misery because we forcibly exclude from our thoughts all but this narrow range of submissive experiences. The stress arising from living this kind of life becomes the hypnotic shock which compels us to keep our eyes only on the deadening and self-loathing patterns of life, lest we divert our gaze to a view which would impart a recognition of our value and inherent power: our right to lay claim to life.

We have to break these patterns before we can accept this new, empowering self-image. You must re-experience these daily scenes and encounters with people while forcing your mind to embrace an awareness of this earth welcoming you, of nature rejoicing over your existence as one of its empowered lifeforms. Violently resist any thought suggesting that your survival depends on surrendering to another's will. Life emanated from the Spirit, through nature: not from man. Although moments may arise when you are caught off guard by an enemy, no one owes their allegiance to another just because they have you at a momentary disadvantage.

Such powerplays are the contrivances of insecure, spiritually-divorced personalities. Their effects are always temporary, as are all physical phenomena. The enduring powers are accessed by the shrewdness of the spiritually attuned mind Never allow a momentary abuse to permanently define your self image or your definition of life. Overwhelmance is a deceptive feeling, not an observation of fact. Time breaks all tyranny, and its healing action is accelerated by the persistently applied vision of the spirit-driven resistor. Never recognize the right of anyone to compel your misery. You alone have control over this, even if this seems completely ridiculous to you in that moment. By linking your state of mind to your allegiance to your "Self," you sever all undermining loyalties. Entertain no contrary notions to the fact that the God who created you and the nature which sustains you celebrates your existence, and makes provision for the spiritually-attuned individual. Life's sources of sustenance bypass all the yelping, belligerent dictators and their mechanisms of control, and empower us from within -- even while all those about you are manically committed to distracting your attention away from this truth.



• "The Valid Self" on Kindle



• ^^ "The Valid Self" on Kindle ^^



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