family

Family is a big word that means many things to many people. Some feel a warm and open loving feeling in reaction to this word and others may feel the opposite. They give us things, some of it we like and want and some of it we wish we could let go of and release. Family shapes how we see the world and ourselves in relation to it. Whatever your experience with family, you can celebrate the fun and release the suffering and the struggle so that all your experiences can add strength to who you have become. 

One thing we know that we get from our family is programming. This eventually becomes the voice in our heads that gives us messages about the self and what we experience. It shapes our perspective and encourages us to act on impulses. Being able to identify this voice can lead us to the path of emotional freedom. We can decide that the voice is something that we were given and not really us, or at least not the real us. We can decide to pay attention to this voice and understand its tactics and motivations. So far what appears to be true that I have learned about this voice is that it does not tell the truth and thinks it is fun to watch me suffer. It will tell me to do something and tell me that its the right thing. Then when I listen and act on what it tells me to do, it will judge me for having done it!

If you are interested in being in charge instead of the voice, you can experiment with some voice stalking exercises. Stalking the voice in your head means paying attention to what it says and how you feel in your body when it speaks to you. Let your body tell you how to proceed. The voice is in your mind so it can be tricky to try and navigate it using your mind. If the voice says, hey, tell that person what to do, they need some advice. A stalking exercise might be for you to see how your body feels about this and experiment with a different choice, not doing what it says and then getting to see how that plays out instead. When I do this, I usually feel better than when I follow it's instructions.