Spiritual Wellness

Trusting in Yourself

By Angel Santiago

Do you know who you are? I mean, the essence of who you are, beyond your personality? Spiritual wellness emphasizes the importance of building inner resources and inner thoughts in order to give meaning to experience. 

There are two ways to look at and live life by:

• You either go through life thinking that you are a human being looking for moments of spiritual connection or,
• that you are a spiritual being having a temporary human experience. 

Which do you believe? The life experience you are going to have depends entirely on which one of these perspectives you choose to believe and live your life by. The first perspective excludes the second one, while the second includes and transcends the first. Most believe that the human body is the vessel of our soul (the truth of who we are). If the physical body is the vessel, then everything that happens in the physical experience is simply just a vessel, bringing us spiritual truths which lead to change and transformation. Those experiences – our challenges and obstacles – are often painful, but in truth, they’re just messages, pointing at something you need to look at within yourself that needs to change; so you can grow and free yourself from the enslavement of your limited self. From this perspective, your challenges aren’t your enemies; they’re your comrades, and having the courage to face them builds resilience.

The thing is, most tend to put so much focus on how the circumstances seem – the actual physical experience – to the point that we believe it’s the only truth; rather than realizing and believing that truth is in the message or the lesson the experience is trying to teach you. But in order to do that, you must be willing to let go of who you think you are. Let go of old thoughts, limiting beliefs. And that is scary. 

Here is the thing about fear, it never really goes away. You just get bigger and stronger than your fear. So in any given situation, you have to look fear in the eye, take it by the hand, and enter hard situations knowing they might hurt; because you know that what’s on the other side is tremendous growth. This process requires a lot of faith. As you begin to transform your life and experience true fulfillment, you’re going to be tested again and again. And with each test, your ego injects doubt, and you lose faith. 

That’s why I say that the problem is in your faith. I say this time and time again; in the midst of what we’re going thru, we lack faith. 

Faith is complete trust, beyond doubt, a knowing that things are happening just as they should and for your highest good. Faith is trusting in the truth of who you are. But this is a practice. You must learn to shut your eyes and ears to the outside world and turn your attention within you, connecting with the truth of who you are.

You may be one of many that believe that all things are working together for good and that everything happens for a reason, but when it comes down to it, you don’t trust it. You doubt. Because you’re only focusing on the circumstances and not the lesson it’s trying to teach you. And that’s precisely what creates the struggle and the conflict you’re experiencing. Because instead of accepting and allowing the change that is currently underway, you’re fighting it, resisting it. You’re not trusting that it is coming to grow you, not destroy you. 

The truth is, the experiences you perceive as “struggle, pain, and suffering” are just the hardships, challenges, and tests you must face and overcome throughout life to rise to a higher level of being and to gain the joy and fulfillment associated with a true spiritual transformation. 

Blessings,

Angel