“For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?

And what is it to cease breathing but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the mountaintop, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”

~ Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Inhibiting us from freedom is our fears, our wounds, our misconceptions and the big lie.

The big lie has sucked us in for generations. The big lie has stolen our hearts, stolen our energy, stolen our lives. The big lie is all-pervasive.

What is it?

“We are not enough.”

Deep down, most people believe it.

How can we heal and transform ourselves so that our true light, wholeness and depth of being can be expressed in the world?

1. Face our fears.
2. Accept that suffering is part of the human experience.
3. Accept our whole self, naked.

Why is suffering such an important component in this formula?

Suffering is real, it’s human, it’s inescapable. As much as we fight it, deny it and hate to admit it, suffering is unavoidable. So long as we suppress it, it wears us down, weakens us, defines where we place our energy.

Acceptance of suffering, loss and hardship is a great human challenge we must all face at some point in our lives. Accepting suffering frees up a lot of space to be real, to heal and to face our fears.

Much has been written in personal growth circles about what is essentially “positive thinking,” yet this supports the big lie. Not enough focus has rested in feeling our feelings, expressing our true nature and becoming authentically whole as wonderful creatures of dark and light, masculine and feminine, yin and yang. Being naked is how we reveal ourselves.

Delving into what our essence is, is a lifelong task. What is it and why is it so important?

When we are able to be naked and vulnerable, we reveal our truth—we can finally be set free by not having anything to hide, not needing to suppress our shadow or deny who we are.

Our wounds cause us to seek connection via the false Gods of excess and self-sabotage in whatever our vice (alcohol, drugs, food, etc), which never bring us to being authentically whole. It only takes us further away into numbness, escape and futility.

Our disconnection from God is the result of the big lie.

Photo Credit: Mike Shields/ Pixoto

When we can accept and love our whole self, warts and all, it will bring us closer to the illusive ‘wholeness’ we seek. After all, a love affair with the self is the greatest journey that exists.

“Until you heal the wounds of your past, you are going to bleed. You can bandage the bleeding with food, with alcohol, with drugs, with work, with cigarettes, with sex; But eventually, it will all ooze through and stain your life. You must find the strength to open the wounds, stick your hands inside, pull out the core of the pain that is holding you in your past, the memories and make peace with them.” ~ Iyanla Vanzant

People will be there to guide you along the way, yet the real healing is up to you.

It’s important to acknowledge that we are human beings who feel, who grow, who evolve, who are always in a process of change.

Wounds make people feel important, and some people hold on to them as a source of pride. Some even mould their entire identity around their wounds. Personality becomes “wounded,” self-power is lessened, the self is disowned, and the soul is imprisoned from expressing the freedom that it is.