Getting to Know Ourselves

This is why we need to get to know ourselves on a deeper level by consistently observing how and why we make the decisions we make. What is the primary operating energy when faced with a choice? Is it fear? Does it stem from an old coping mechanism from childhood? Are we afraid of something because of a solitary past experience from a similar circumstance that resulted in what we perceived as a bad outcome at the time? Have we adopted a belief about our environment as we collected the pieces of our past to create a picture of a dangerous, mean, unloving, and scarce world?

Seeking to understand ourselves more completely can be challenging, especially because it can frequently bring up subconscious, buried, psycho-emotional issues that we prefer not to look at. These issues are subconscious because the ego doesn’t want us to address them. However, when we do begin to heal them, the ego loses some of its power and influence.

Identifying the dominant emotion we experience (or express) most frequently and shining a light on it helps us begin to understand one of our primary blocks to being present and seeing with the eyes of Spirit. This emotion likely has roots in past lives and has been reinforced by situations in this lifetime that have made it “real” to us, albeit usually mostly subconscious. As we begin to observe and recognize the mechanism (or story) that drives the different expressions of this primary emotion, we may find ourselves in uncomfortable and uncharted territory. If this happens, working with a qualified psychotherapist or psycho-spiritual therapist can be beneficial.

Our observations need not be limited to emotions, as we often also have entrenched dysfunctional mental processes that collude with our dysfunctional emotional mechanisms to keep us stuck in subconscious patterns that inhibit greater spiritual awareness. Uncovering these subconscious processes—mental or emotional—gives us a greater understanding of how we evolved to perceive the world the way we do and thus allows us to move forward more consciously informed of the cause and effect of our decisions and actions. Through this expanded awareness, we can see the ego’s maneuverings more clearly and so better choose which voice to listen to.