{"id":46413,"date":"2017-01-05T20:23:40","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T04:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=46413"},"modified":"2017-05-27T08:46:50","modified_gmt":"2017-05-27T16:46:50","slug":"radical-self-improvement-stop-trying-to-improve-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/radical-self-improvement-stop-trying-to-improve-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Radical Self-Improvement: Stop Trying to Improve Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/h3>\n

\u201cRemember to proceed with self-love and self-acceptance at all times, as this is the only path to real and lasting change\u201d – Don Miguel Ruiz Jr.<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I finally realised I’d been going about it all wrong. I’d been trying to improve myself, when I was already enough. All the fulfillment we could ever need is already inside us<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

All my life, if I was honest with myself, I felt like a weed. There might\u2019ve been good days, when the weed seemed less weedy, but on a fundamental level I felt flawed. So I put a lot of energy into trying to control and maintain the weed, trimming it here or there, or trying to change the direction of its growth, or even sticking pretty flowers on it to pretend it wasn\u2019t a weed. I never realised that all I had to do was to source it out at the root<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What was the root? Fear<\/strong>. The fear that I was just a weed, and the fear that I was not, for if I was not at least a weed, surely I would not exist at all!?<\/p>\n

Meditation<\/strong> was like directing the sunlight of awareness<\/strong> through a magnifying glass. The closer it got to the root, the more apparent the ugliness of this weed became, but then some sort of miracle\"\" occurred. As the main body of the weed was uprooted, I realised that I was never the weed at all, but the fertile ground in which it grew.<\/p>\n

I was the earth of limitless possibilities, and that meant I was free to grow tulips, daisies, lilies\u2026 whatever the hell I wanted! I could have a full garden for the different seasons! It could be wild or it could be nicely kempt, what did it matter!? Sure, each plant would eventually wither and die, but the possibility of growth was always there. There was no point holding on to an individual plant, for they were all in their basic nature ever-changing<\/strong> and impermanent<\/strong>. This also meant that I could happily invite people in to see my garden, and it didn\u2019t matter if they didn\u2019t like what they saw. After all, none of these flowers were really \u2018me\u2019 anyway!<\/p>\n

I had spent so long focusing on changing the weed, that I had forgotten the sun was always shining<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Right now, I am in the process of uprooting all the rogue weeds, but it’s okay, because none of them are \u2018me\u2019 either. The weed of self-doubt, the weed of social anxiety, the weed of anger, none of them. I also know there\u2019s no point in trying to fight them with chemicals or garden scissors, or masking what they are. All I have to do it direct the sunlight through that magnifying glass once they sprout their heads through the soil, and they are gone forever. In other words, feel them fully<\/strong>. Until they sprout, I can\u2019t know they\u2019re there.<\/p>\n

Maybe one day I\u2019ll be completely free of weeds. That\u2019s not to say I\u2019ll be immune to them, but at any rate they\u2019re easily dealt with. And what\u2019s the point worrying about them anyway when you\u2019ve got a beautiful, ever-changing garden?<\/p>\n

\n

Are you trying to improve yourself? Why? Who is this ‘you’, this ‘self’ you feel isn’t good enough?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Susannah had a remarkable experience five months ago that changed her life. To read more about spiritual awakening go to her recent blog www.thetimetoawaken.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I finally realised I’d been going about it all wrong. I’d been trying to improve myself, when I was already enough. All the fulfillment we could ever need is already inside us. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11930,"featured_media":46599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32,210,21,6],"tags":[2758,5717,2235,947,4654,66,1755],"yoast_head":"\nRadical Self Improvement - Stop Trying to Improve Yourself<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Awakening is possible. Meditation is like directing the sunlight of awareness through a magnifying glass. 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