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Profound Honesty

By Shelley Hawkins-Clark, EFT-ADV
© 2008, All Rights Reserved, Cadence Enterprises, LLC

"Out beyond right and wrong there is a field. I'll meet you there." ~Rumi

"Keep on the sunny side, keep on the sunny side, keep on the sunny side of life..." ~ Soundtrack, O Brother Where Art Thou

The birds are very active along the path I take by the river in the mornings, here in the Emmett Valley. A pair of osprey has laid claim to the top of a pole as a home for its young. The geese honk loudly, rarely stopping to listen to what the other is saying. Redwing blackbirds can be heard in the marsh in the field away from the river and there's a variety of ducks and birds of which I don't know the names.

I recently experienced something a little more grand. I could see a flock of large white birds sitting on the shore of an island in the river. As I walked closer, I could see that it was ten white pelicans preening and resting, giving me the opportunity to take it in. Soon the first one fluttered its wings, put in and each followed in turn until they were floating as a flock down river. It struck me how they floated without resistance to the current.

Animals are remarkable for teaching us to accept what is without resistance. As humans, we tend to resist pain, especially emotional pain, preferring instead to employ what we call "positive thinking" or "getting on with life."

In his recent book The Four-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris gives this idea a name by pointing out that much of what we deem positive thinking is more accurately termed optimistic denial. Instead of allowing ourselves to feel what we feel, optimistic denial allows us to keep going with our chin up.

Meanwhile our life remains unconscious except, perhaps, in more lucid moments when we notice that our joy doesn't go as deep as we would like it to, or our income is relatively static year after year, we've lost our way, or we wonder what makes us react a certain way, what keeps us from healing, why we feel ungrounded; or realizing we're still telling ourselves the same "reason" for a power-draining behavior thirty years later. The vibration we emanate of unresolved "stuff," even if we're unaware, brings the same challenges with repetition.

Fortunately, Spirit is infinitely patient even when we are not. We can take as long as we wish to learn our lessons. That may or may not be comforting when we realize the power we have to choose. Yet Spirit is constant love, support and presence throughout our process.

The pelicans knew that. It is we conscious beings who make up the rules for what to do with our emotions and unfinished business and it is we who can change them. Energy psychology tools such as EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) open the door for this profound change with a profound honesty. We can relax our chin and unlock the energy for transformation by accessing such unfinished business on purpose and experiencing a deep sense of freedom in its place.

To be sure, positive thinking in the form of intentionality is necessary for proactively engaging in the creation of our lives. It's important to make the distinction, however, between what is intentional and what is denial. The vibration of our emotion will still ring with integrity whether or not we are aware.

The personal transformation that takes place with such profound honesty takes us beyond the limited polarization between positive and negative thinking to a realm of deep peace and possibility. Where in your life are you spending a lot of energy to remain positive when profound honesty would be the deeper service to your soul? Consider stepping into the current with profound honesty and set yourself free.