Spirituality for Busy People
Imaginary Self-Images. (Question) Please advise cause and correction of my impression of
constant effort to escape and need of great haste – and from what?
(Answer) Self. It is the haste from self. (Edgar Cayce Reading 3357-2)
Have you ever felt
the way Mary, the lady who asked this question, did? With great honesty she admitted
that she often felt as if she were in a hurry and running away from
something. But from
what? Edgar Cayce’s answer
was short and to the point: yourself.
The self mentioned
here is not the higher self – not the individuality which is the identity
of the soul. Instead, this
comment refers to the personality, the familiar sense of identity that we
live with throughout most of the day. Unfortunately, this side of ourselves has lots of
misconceptions. Our
personality selves carry false, imaginary notions of who we are. And when we try to live up to
those images, we’re usually tense and hurried. We run from one demand to another, trying to keep up
with a counterfeit picture of ourselves.
We all struggle with
our personality selves, so don’t feel guilty or alone if you discover how
true this is of you. We all
have illusions about ourselves.
Some are grandiose fantasies of our own importance – what the
readings call “self-aggrandizement.” Other illusions are harshly low self-appraisals – what
the readings call “self-condemnation.” It’s natural to wonder from where those illusions
originate. Some, no doubt,
are the result of childhood experiences – or, going even further back,
patterns from earlier lives.
Some of the false images come from the society in which we
live. Others are certainly
the product of choices that we’ve made – decisions to see ourselves in a
particular way that may not have been very accurate.
How does your
personality operate when it attempts to maintain its hold on you? Trying to keep everyone pleased
and struggling to maintain a good impression are two common methods of
the personality. They’re
analogous to constantly standing on your tiptoes. Try to picture what it would be
like to stand on your toes for ten minutes . . . or for an hour. What strain and exhaustion come
from attempting to conform to imaginary ideas of who you are! No wonder you sometimes find it
hard to relax!
To see and admit this
fact is a bitter pill. We’d
rather see our busy lives as efforts to accomplish lofty goals. But on closer examination, we’ll
probably see what Mary recognized before turning to Cayce for counsel:
tension and hurry are warning signs that something is seriously out of
whack.
Mini-motivator:
Stop listening so intently to the little voices that
drive you. Be willing to
surrender your expectations about how every single event is going to turn
out. Don’t worry if you’re
not always appreciated, understood, or liked—just so long as you know
you’re doing what’s right.
In summary, try for just one day to get off your tiptoes!
(From Spirituality for
Busy People, by Mark Thurston, 2000: Virginia Beach:
A.R.E. Press, pp. 21-22)
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