Introduction

In this chapter I talk about how being positive does not lead us to peace. I explain how to use this book to get the most out of it.

Transcript

Introduction
 
 

Awakening

Before my awakening, I felt stuck, frustrated, and angry. I bounced from one distraction to another and had a constant feeling there was more for me in this life. Even during the good, the stable times, I felt something wasn’t right. I was sinking. I needed more. Usually, I sought the “more” through longer hours at work, shopping for more “stuff,” and burying myself in more debt. As a result, I was only becoming unhappier in the process. I had searched for and tried many things, only to find myself right back where I had begun. 

It wasn’t until I started to look at the quality of my thoughts that I began to realize just how toxic my mind had become. I had an internal voice that ran a negative commentary all the time. I was hard on myself as well as everyone around me. I couldn’t even live up to my own standards. No matter what was happening in the moment, I always saw the negative side. Even when there was nothing to complain about, I would seek out an unsatisfactory moment from the past or jump ahead to a future moment that had not even happened yet. I could be having the time of my life and, right in the middle of it all, I would think, “Damn! The day is almost over and tomorrow I have to go back to work in that horrible factory.” I had become addicted to toxic thinking yet totally unaware of it. I had created a complex infrastructure in my mind, a maze of roads that all led to the same place—my own living hell. 

As my interest in my spirituality grew, I began to realize how poisonous my thoughts had become. I began reading and absorbing new knowledge. I wanted to resurface my roads with kinder and more positive thoughts. Eventually, I had repaved almost every road in my mind; however, all the roads still led to the same place—my personal crazy town. I thought that by adding more and new beliefs, my mind would be a better place in which to live. But nothing really changed for me. Now instead of feeling low most of the time and pretending I was happy, I pretended I was happy all the time and felt like I was on a roller coaster that never stopped going up and down. 

Positive thinking on its own was not enough. There are times when positive thinking is helpful, but it doesn’t have the ability to deliver lasting peace. Not all circumstances are positive. Being honest and authentic is more balanced. Furthermore, being positive doesn’t guarantee your awakening, nor can it expand your consciousness.  

Willingness to Change

Awakening takes courage. The conscious choice to change begins with your willingness to be courageous. Still, change is not easy to employ, and there is no guarantee that it will be a permanent shift when you do. It takes a hero’s heart to actively stay on the path of awakening. Your willingness to change and the courage to do so will be thrust under your nose many times. The changes required include all the habits, mindsets, and disempowering situations in your life. You will require a new inner dialogue, one that supports loving self. Along with these changes, there must be willingness to release your past and the desire to cling to old wounds. Awakening leads you to letting go, and letting go deepens your awakening. In your awakening, you don’t need to know how to let go. You begin with being willing. In your willingness, the way will be revealed to you. Change is like turning a corner—you sometimes can’t see the road ahead until you make the turn. By embracing willingness and courage, you enter the domain of possibility. Lastly, you don’t change or awaken to become what others need or want you to be. This is a gift that you give yourself. 

How to Use This Book

I needed more in life because the life I was living was not working. I wanted off the treadmill. I knew that if I was ever going to experience more in my life, something had to change. This book contains the main strategies I worked with to uncover my peace. The tools I share in the book are what I used to wake up to my heart/soul. My life now is full of enlightened moments. Every time I surrender and am courageous enough to love, my divinity enlivens the moment.

I want to share with you how I changed my life for the better and how you can successfully turn things around in your life too. But this book is not a casual read. It was written not for your mind but for your heart. My intention is to turn the reader inward to experience a personal transformation. Take what’s good and leave behind what doesn’t work for you. I encourage you to read this book more than once in order to discover the layers of wisdom within. You hold the keys to your awakening, and the chapters that follow will prove that to you. Some of the material in this book holds transformative power to radically shift your current state of consciousness. If you would like to deepen your experience of the material covered, you can work with the Tools at the end of each chapter. 

The beginning of the book deals more with subjectivity, understanding your inner world. It then progresses into a more objective focus in the middle. This all sets you up to go deeper in the final chapters. This book ends with a strong spiritual focus, designed to bring a sense of union to your relationship with God. 

This book was not produced with religion or any specific philosophy in mind. I would also like to call your attention to the fact that I repeatedly use the word God. But when I refer to God, I am not talking about religion. God is not a religious concept. God is the source of all things seen and unseen, known and unknown. God is the totality of all that IS. The entire point of awakening is to know your relationship with God. When you know who and what you are in relation to God, insignificant behaviors, mindsets, and desires fall away as you discover God’s presence within you.

By changing your relationship with your thoughts, releasing yourself from the past, living in the present moment, and embracing love, you will make profound changes in your life—changes that are right, positive, and in alignment with your purpose. You will awaken. The mind can carry more weight than you can handle in your life. That weight results in a life of struggle and disease. With nothing weighing you down, you can make better life decisions, because the path ahead is clearer. When clarity of heart and mind are achieved, your divinity naturally springs forth and your path becomes illuminated with the radiance of your true self. The menial task of living is no longer your main focus. What becomes most self-evident is the virtuous path of love.