Will the real you please stand-up?

"Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn't you - all of the expectations, all of the beliefs - and becoming who you are." -- Rachel Naomi Remen

Have you ever wondered where the expectations you have of yourself come from and how these expectations impact everything you think and do?

Do you ever stop to ask if those expectations are your expectations or the expectations of others?

One of the most healing moments in my life was about 15 years ago when I awakened to the reality that many of the expectations I thought were mine were actually belonged to someone else. "Hi, these are your expectations and beliefs—you can have these back now." The expectations were passed on to me by others and within these expectations were certain beliefs I had about myself as a result. Not all expectaions are bad and some can be very motivating but I wanted to dump the expectations and beliefs that did not serve my soul and discover what was happening in my soul and to listen to who I really am. This isn’t easy, for sometimes those same expectations and beliefs can be the barriers that prevent one from having a remarkable breakthrough in self-discovery.

Some of these expectations that formed my beliefs about myself allowed me to accomplish a certain level of "success" but at the same time the same expectations and beliefs led me to question if my "success" was really who I was in my inner-self. I want to live boldly and to my fullest, this is exactly why I must let go of everything that isn’t me and tap into the life that percolates in my inner core. When I can do this I can discover the hope that awaits me which is really what an expectation should be--- the hope that awaits.

We can have certain expectations and beliefs about who God is and how God is active only to discover that we have placed God is a very small box. Our expectations and beliefs about God may be limit our ability to fully embrace what God is doing.

Questions I often ask myself are: What are you carrying right at this moment that you know deep in your soul isn’t you? Why are you carrying it? What are the expectations that prevent you from letting go and becoming (or being) who you are? Has others expectations of God formed certain beliefs in you that limit is limiting the magnitude of what God wants to do in your life?

Consider Jesus, he constantly encouraged others to let go of the expectations and beliefs that others had imposed on his listeners and discover who they are in God’s eyes; to awaken to the "kingdom of God" within.

Healing happens when we no longer identify ourselves by the expectations and beliefs others have imposed consciously or subconsciously on us and we begin to embrace and be embraced by God where we discover who we really are. Will the real you please stand-up?

If something deep within me—isn’t me—there’s usually a good chance it isn’t God either.