The fear at the base our human existence is the fear that “I am not”…not powerful enough, not smart enough, not rich enough, not beautiful enough. I fear “I am not.” And, of course, it is true, I am not the most beautiful or the richest or the smartest and never will be. But that is the last thing I want to admit to myself.
In truth, I am an ever-changing energy field. But I don’t want to be that. So we have fear thoughts constantly speculating, analyzing, fantasizing. And with our thoughts, we create a mask to keep ourselves safe in that make-believe world where I am…”all that.”
But what would happen if we just saw things as they really are? What would our lives be like if we let our personal barriers just drop away and live our lives just as they are? Traditional shamans say there would be no more fear. Life could be happy and peaceful and sane.
Holding up a mask to try to be what other people want you to be is crippling. It takes all your energy to hold up that mask. Instead you could just be free to be you and you would find out that it feels great and is easy and takes no effort at all. You can get off the treadmill of trying to be what other people are and discover that you are a really wonderful person in your own way.
And when you do decide to just be who you are really are, you will notice that everybody around you is exhausted from trying to hold up their masks to impress you! And you will want to tell them that they don’t have to do that.
If you would just make the choice to be exactly who and what you are with all your good bits and not-so-good bits, you would find out that people like the authentic you more than that mask you try to hold up to convince them that you are someone they want to like.
In Traditional Shamanism, we know that every person creates their own unique reality. It is made of all the experiences we have had, all the beliefs we were taught to believe, all the perceptions we have gained along our way. So no two people have the exact same reality. Now you can see why you don’t need to fit into someone else’s reality to be happy and why you don’t need other people to fit into your reality to feel OK. We get to create and live in our own unique reality. This fact should give you the power to create whatever reality you choose to create for yourself.
Your beliefs will manifest in your reality, so it is by choosing your beliefs that you create your reality automatically. Now, this makes much more sense about how you do not need to be what other people are in order for you to be happy and healthy and abundant. It’s amazing, but true! Try it and see. The ancient shamans knew this and were very powerful, because they worked on improving their own authentic lives — and so can you.
