How do you reach your full potential? How do you create an abundant Life? What is your greatest desire? What is the best version of yourself? In this article I suggest that you already have all the inner resources necessary for your fulfillment.
Another important question relevant to living your full ability and capability is, “Who are you?” My experience is that most people first focus on their physical characteristics and learned roles. You’re a male or female, a certain size, shape, and weight, mother or father, nurse, teacher, carpenter, etc.
My further experience is that many women in our culture were raised to believe that a primary reason for being and role in life was to marry and raise children. Men’s greatest role and self-esteem came from providing for the family, or their occupation. Of course, these are learned roles. And you are not just your physical body. Eventually you get around to considering your mental, emotional, and spiritual characteristics. You clearly have a mental nature, your ability to think and reason. Your thoughts, beliefs, and expectations are powerful creators of your life experience. Your feelings and emotions, similarly, define and shape who you are. Identifying and meeting your interests, needs, and values are critical for your health, happiness, and peace of mind.
What about the spiritual part of you? Philosophers, poets, prophets, and metaphysicians throughout time have attempted to explain the nature, character, and causes of being and knowing, the existence of God or Supreme Being, and that which is above or beyond the material world. In fact, most people by far believe in an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful Creator and Source of all life. And, interestingly, all major religious and philosophic systems believe we are one with God and all that is.
Even quantum physics has determined the oneness and connectedness of everything, that the universe is a dynamic web of interconnection. It is one of complete harmony and order with infinite potential that doesn’t take form until consciousness is introduced. There is no “fixed” reality. Physicist, Dr. John Wheeler, calls this a “participatory universe,” and that our observations, expectations, and beliefs literally create our world. What does all of this suggest about your spiritual nature and the ability to create an abundant life?
This suggests to me we need to let go of our learned limitations, and refocus on our inherent nature of goodness, God-ness, worthiness, and ability to create whatever we desire. The power of positive thinking is real, such as proposed by Napoleon Hill in his 1937 book, Think and Grow Rich: “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” I’ve certainly learned about the power of the mind in my studies and experience with guided imagery, hypnosis and other “deliberate intention” techniques.
In my psychology training I also learned about Dr. Carl Rogers and his belief that people have a natural capacity for growth and development beyond their intellect and socialization. The individual is basically good and will develop satisfactorily if given the opportunity and support in dealing with the stresses of life. The person has an innate self-actualizing tendency.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow was best known for identifying what he called a hierarchy of needs and how one can achieve self-actualization, a state of harmony and understanding in achieving the fullest use of one’s talents and interests. This included the need for transcendence and addressing one’s spiritual needs for integrity, altruism, and connecting with the infinite and the very highest level of consciousness.
Psychologist Martin Seligman was highly influenced by this positive psychology movement and focus on a higher human nature. He discovered that there are six dominate spiritual and philosophical traditions and broad core characteristics of virtue: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. The psychological ingredients that define transcendence include appreciation of beauty, gratitude, hope, humor, and spirituality.
The point here is to encourage you to embrace possibility and to know that you have unlimited potential to create a life of abundance and fulfillment. I used to joke that if I could create a new diagnostic code for physical and mental disorders, it would be called “Forgotten Identity.” We have forgotten the truth of who we are and our connection to our eternal Essential Nature. We need to stop the self-criticism and learn to forgive ourselves for not living up to some learned, arbitrary ideal that comes from our parents, community, and culture.
We need to balance these external influences with living our inner world. I strongly encourage you to go within, to meditate and connect with your Greater Being, your Source. In accessing this deeper, wiser aspect of who we are, we can transform our mind of conditioned thoughts and beliefs. We can protect ourselves from so much of the current world chaos by living from the inside out. Everything you want and need is already inside you. You are inherently connected to the greatest source of knowledge there is. Now is the time to discover and release your spiritual power.
