You Are a Sovereign Being

Timeless Truth: True power is silent and it comes from the inside. Chapter 2 You have power within! Many of us associate power as something that people have over others. The rich have over the poor. The powerful over the weak. True power is not power over people but rather silent power that comes from the inside of yourself and is based on goodness, truth and love! You may know or may even be surprised that within you lies this unquantifiable strength. It is in everyone one us and often it only shows up when we have reached a low point in life. This power within doesn’t require you to show off, it is not within us so we can use it against other people by feeling more powerful as the ego would have you believe. We are born with it for the purpose of connecting with it and radiating light from within ourselves out into the world around us. Elder Paisios of the Holy Mount Athios said “ In man there is a hidden power which comes out when necessary”. Struggles can be a gift. As humans each of us will endure some sort of struggle or hardship in life. Being human is to experience life in its purest form – the wins and losses, celebrations and the challenges. Some of these experiences may not be favourable. We might be in pain, physically or emotionally or even get hurt. Often we feel betrayed by life, we feel it is unfair and question why we have to go through these struggles. I have been through struggles just like everyone. I had Bulimia for 20 years of my life and I suffered not one but three brain haemorrhages over the last two decades, the last one being in 2018. What I didn’t realize though during the time, that the struggles I were experiencing where life changing for me. Now that I have more insight I understand that we come face to face with a struggle, low point in life, be it an illness, a relationship breakdown or financial ruin and at the time we are lost in the darkness. We believe that the answer to our misery is somewhere out there in the world. If only we can change our circumstances then maybe we don’t have to suffer. I have good news for you. The answer lies within you. Your pain and struggle doesn’t come from the event itself but rather from what lens you see what is happening to you that is causing your pain. What if I was to tell you that there is no place for “why me”, this question serves no purpose whatsoever and only makes you feel like a victim of your circumstances. Everything that has happened and is happening is for you, so that you can rise above your ego your lower nature and grow and evolve. All unwanted moments serve a higher purpose. Rather than fall into victimhood a better question that you may like to ask is “ what can I learn from this?” My dark night of the soul moment. My first brain haemorrhage was in June 2006 and I was diagnosed with a condition called Cavernous Angioma of the brain stem. I went on to have another brain haemorrhage in January 2011 and then a third one in February 2018. Having had three brain haemorrhages, I know what it is like to be lost in the abyss of darkness with no slither of hope of any light shining through. I could not see my way out of the darkness. During this time I felt so alone without seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Some refer to this as the “dark night of the soul” — I call it the emergence of the soul and spirit. It is in this place that I felt a soft voice speak to my soul and I began to realize that I was not my circumstances, but something far greater. I have always been fascinated in consciousness and our human potential. For many years I have been searching to understand about who I was prior to my first brain haemorrhage. After the initial period of the shock that I was in fact paralysed on the left side of my body with no ability to walk, use my arm and speak I had to undergo extensive rehabilitation. I recall asking my physiotherapist, “ How long before I am able to run again?” ( I asked this question as I was a fitness fanatic at the time and wanted to get back to running again. He replied, “ You will be lucky if you can walk in twelve months’ time.” Hearing those words devastated me, I did not want to believe what he said. I did not want it to be my reality. At that moment something inside of me clicked. It was almost like this surge of electricity was running through my body. I remember having this feeling of hope it came out of nowhere and I had a knowing that I would be back to full form within months. This knowing came from a higher place it came from God. It was the spirit in me. What doesn’t kill you in fact makes you stronger. I decided in that moment that if I was going to recover it was up to me and no one else. You will be surprised when you are facing something that seems impossible to everyone else how you have an inner strength you didn’t even know you had. This inner strength has been given to you by God. There is guidance that speaks directly into your heart if only you would listen. Everything you are going through, every struggle, pain or hardship, actually can be the greatest gift for you. It is a gift because it is in the struggle when you are brought to your knees, where you question the purpose of your life. It is a gift because it asks you to go deeper into yourself and find the gold of who you are. As the song says by Kelly Clarkson “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”” has a very profound truth to it. What you overcome in life makes you richer in every way. When you are in that dark place looking for a way out you are faced with two choices: give up or look within and tap into the inner resources that you didn’t even know you had. You may just come through it stronger and more humble than you were before. I know I did you will too if you are not afraid to look within. You are not given more than you are able to handle. They say life never hands out things that you can’t handle. For me I believe it is God that never gives you more than you can endure. How we approach it will determine how we come through the other side. We can see ourselves as the casualty of our circumstances and feel sorry for ourselves, or we can reach into the essence of who we are and find our inner strength. What does that look like you may ask? After recovering from my first brain haemorrhage I felt mighty proud of myself that I was able to get back to how I used to be. In all honesty I would say I became a little smug thinking hey I am invisible and look at me what I was able to overcome. Well life had other plans for me because a few years later I suffered a second brain haemorrhage that totally took me by surprise to say the least. I believe God humbled me. I felt victimised by life again, how could life be so cruel that I had to go through everything again. You can understand how I started to feel sorry for myself and this lasted for at least a month. I had many visitors come to my home and they would bring chocolates. After each one left I would gobble the box of chocolates they brought me. After a month of wallowing in pity something inside of me changed. I decided if I let this it can take me to a dark place or I could rise up and heal again. I mean I recovered once I could do this again. I knew that I could handle it and this time I was humbled by the experience and that has never left me. Nothing is impossible. “Everything is possible with God” clearly states that impossibility is not existent. It requires you to connect to your innate self – worth and your ability to rise up and meet your challenges heart on. You need to connect with God and believe you can do it as I have done so. You and I are not different we all have been gifted with this internal strength and power from our creator. I