"When I finally achieve enlightenment, I'll be..."

A classic one you will hear a lot when on the path of healing, and maybe even say yourself a few times. Now, it will often be masked with language such as:

• When I reach perfect mindfulness

• When I get "there"

• When I heal

• When I fix my brain

• When I fix my body

• When I attain presence

Something like that. They are all the same things. It's the ego creating a nice, fun "uphill battle".

God how we LOVE an uphill battle. We love the story of the warrior fighting until his last breath, and finally reaching his goal t-minus 1 millisecond before death. Or perhaps the story of a long process to take the throne, or achieve riches in the stock market, etc. So naturally, we apply the same pattern to the journey of spirit.

Its so easy to fall for this trap. The thinking mind would love to retain control & power within your beingness! So even though you consciously know you would be happier in peace, your thinking mind offers a solution - an EPIC battle to obtain that peace, which you do not currently have of course!

My dear reader, you already have that peace within you. It is simple, in the form of presence - your conscious awareness of the moment.

Let me reveal the secret to enlightenment. It doesn't make you BETTER than you are. It doesn't turn you into a genius, or make you a superhuman. It wont make you feel superior to anyone you may currently feel inferior to.

Instead, enlightenment could be described better as freedom. We do the spiritual work in meditation, therapy, and self-reflection knowing it won't make us surpass our peers, but rather make us realize our equality. We do it to make us feel MORE who we are. We do it to make us know we are ALL beautiful geniuses, all beautifully human. We do it to realize that we are neither superior nor inferior to our fellow human - instead, each person is a reflection of ourselves. When we look into the mirror of another, we start to see that beauty that exists within us all. And the fruit of this? The crystalline diamond, the juice, the profit, the harvest we reap from this work, as we look into the mirrors?

It is love. That my friends, is true enlightenment. When we look into the mirrors around us, into their eyes, seeing not "other" but instead seeing ourselves, and feeling love at this sight.

...

Now you may ask, we'll doesnt that make you better? Doesn't that make you superhuman? Give you powers? Bring you wealth?

It has only one true outcome for your life:

Freedom.

You will be free! Free to follow what your soul wants, rather than feeling pressures of society because you know what's important to you. You have more degrees of freedom, the same freedom you always had, but now you are AWARE of the possibilities.

And yes, oftentimes this results in advanced opportunities. Perhaps the ability to manifest your desires - love, wealth, etc.

But this is where the narcissism of our modern American lives can become confused. It doesnt FEEL like winning. It feels like gratitude. Or, differently put, it feels natural.

I went from miserable, disease ridden, poor, powerless, insecure and lonely to married with a beautiful baby girl, a homeowner, successful by society's standards, full of life, health and gratitude.

But listen closely friend - I do not feel as if I WON these things, nor do I feel as if I earned them, or fought for them, battled hard for them or any of that nonsense.

Instead, for each and every item I mentioned? I had to let go of it. I let go of a successful career, quit my job and traveled the world seeking myself. My career came after that, through a journey of self-discovery.

My desire for a wife & family? Let go of it, spent all my money to seek myself and gave up ever finding love. My love came after that, through a journey of self discovery.

My home? Gave it up. Sold my belongings, lived as a nomad. My perfect home came after that, through a journey of understanding self-discovery.

This applies to pretty much every blessing the universe has bestowed upon me, and I am eternally grateful for each.

Sometimes my ego likes to latch onto things and say, "I earned this! I became enlightened! I did it! Blah blah blah!"

Each time I observe this thought pattern, I know it is simply the ego trying to regain control - I don't blame it either, who could blame it for trying!

But remembering this reminds me of my spirit and I remember that the blessings of the world will come freely to an open heart of gratitude. But to an ego, there will only be battle. A surefire way to convert a blessing into a battle is to start believing your ego!

I hope this could help you to clarify your beliefs around what we do here when we say "spiritual work". We aren't becoming superior to our past selves. We are BECOMING ourselves, ALLOWING our full selves into our hearts.

We are merely reuniting ourselves.