Becoming Your Own Hero
What do you think of when you look at this photo?
Do you think, wow that takes a lot of practice, determination, and stamina to accomplish such a feat! You go girl!
Or, do you think, this photo is exploiting to women. Pole dancing is demeaning to women and contributes to low self esteem in women who do not look like this?
How dare she post a photo like this in a spiritual blog!
Was your first response to the photo positive or negative?
If it was positive, YAY YOU!!!
Today's post is all about letting go of judgement.
Sometimes we are so accustomed to passing judgement we don't even realize we are doing it. We see a photo or hear a song on the radio or see something on television that elicits a specific emotional response.
That emotional response is a clue to us on an area of our subconscious we need to work on. Anytime we feel a negative emotional response based on something we see, hear, feel, smell, or taste, there is a clue that we have an unresolved issue that was just triggered by that emotional response.
For example, if seeing a woman pole dancing brings up within us the thought that this woman is being sexually exploited, we are saying that there is something wrong with the act of sex, or a particular aspect of the act of sex. We are assuming the woman is not enjoying what she is doing. We are projecting our feelings onto someone else.
If, however, we can look at this photo and say... that's impressive.. or.... if I tried, I could do that, then we are looking at the photo without judgement. Truth be told, there is no real sexual implication in this photo whatsoever.
What if we said, oh that makes people who are large feel bad about themselves.. it implies that everyone has to be thin to be acceptable..
Another judgement.
We are assuming that large people feel bad about themselves. We are perhaps internalizing something we feel about ourselves.
One way to get to the core issue is to ask ourselves why the emotional response was triggered in the first place.
For example, if we thought to ourselves, this is not a spiritual photo, how dare she post this on a spiritual blog?
Why?
Perhaps we think that there are specific rules about what is and is not acceptable.
Why?
Because showing a woman half clad upside down on a pole is not acceptable or spiritual.
Why?
Because if I tried to do this and present myself as a spiritual person I would not be accepted.
Why?
Because I allow certain rules of society to dictate to me what is and isn't spiritual.
Why?
Because I am afraid of being rejected.
Why?
Because I am afraid of not being loved.
If we reduce all of our judgements down to the core issue, almost every time we can reduce it to a fear of some kind, and especially, the fear of not being loved.
What if we circumvented the whole process and just decided that no matter what, we would decide to love ourselves and do what gives us joy?
How freeing that would be!
The next time you are tempted to judge, think about this. WHY? Why do you feel this particular emotional response? Does it go back to something you were taught, something you experienced, something you were led to believe?
What about judging ourselves?
We do this every day.. I am not good enough. I am not smart enough, pretty enough, talented enough, young enough, old enough, thin enough, I am not enough.
If this photo elicited a response that oh, I am not ..... enough, decide today to change that thought.
You are enough. You are completely loved. There is nothing to fear.
If we cease from judging, we become our own heros. We begin to create a utopia right here in our own skin.
Whether or not we can hang upside down on a pole half clad will not matter. We will honor the right for this girl to do it and feel wonderful about herself, to feel sexy, to feel accomplished, to feel joy. And we will feel joy about feeling good about ourselves no matter whether we can do a similar activity or not.
This is your assignment.
The next time you are tempted to judge someone or something, ask yourself why?
Get down to that core issue.
Let it go. Allow whatever sparked your judgement to go and just allow it to be.
Know you are loved. You are accepted.
You are your own hero.
