I recently read a quote that has stuck with me. In the wonderful little book, I Will Not Die an Unlived Life, Dawna Markova states that she has decided to "grow her strengths, rather than trying to fix her weaknesses." This phrase reminds me a little of what I teach about intuition. In intuitive practice it is very important not to compare ourselves with others. The key to becoming a master intuitive is to find out how intuition speaks to you, not to focus on the way it works for other people. In Markova’s words, we grow our intuitive strengths and ignore those things that don’t work for us.
We have been taught to focus on our weaknesses and then try to change them. I wonder if this is really working for any of us? How much more productive it would be to make a list of those things we do well and then put our energies toward growing them. Similarly, we could look at the positive aspects of our jobs, marriages, and lives and grow those pieces, rather than focusing on the things that are wrong with them.
I think this is a marvelous way to look not only at our own lives but also at our country and our planet. In these election year times, we are hearing a lot about what is wrong with our country. It is very easy to focus on the weaknesses…a faltering economy, bad job prospects, an endless war, $4 a gallon gasoline. But, I believe it is far more important to focus on what we are doing right.
We have marvelous civil rights. We are free to come and go as we please (even though our gas is expensive, it still costs less than half of gas in Europe). We have opportunities many people in other countries can only dream about. These are the things I want to grow. I want to hear a candidate tell me about how we can become even more free.
Many months ago at a public forum, my guides, The Light Collective, were asked who would win the 2008 presidential election. They didn’t give a name. They just told us to vote for the candidate that didn’t promote fear.
That comment encouraged me to listen more closely to what all the candidates were saying. It was interesting. Promoting fear is a huge campaign strategy. We are asked to consider who would be best to answer the phone at 3 a.m. (assuming, of course, that the call would be an emergency). We are encouraged to think about who can fight terrorism or give us a temporary fix on gas prices. It is difficult to find a candidate who talks about growing our country’s strengths.
As we speed toward 2012, we are being encouraged by the media and the politicians to focus on fear. I believe it is the job of the spiritual and metaphysical community to refuse to do this. We can take the lead in asking our candidates, both locally and nationally, to tell us what is good about the country and what strengths they will grow. We can refuse to worry about what is weak. We can quit worrying about identity theft and terrorism and focus on making the freedoms we have strong and our souls secure.
I have made a pact with myself. I am growing my own strengths as a person and voting for the candidates that promise to do the same. I am refusing to focus on what is weak or wrong.
Complaining is a hard habit to break, so it will be interesting to see how I do on this one. Best wishes on your own journeys of growing your strengths.
