What You See In Others Is A Reflection Of YOU.

When you look out into the world around you and see what you don’t like,
ask yourself how you could possibly be contributing to it.

You may just be one person but you have a power within you to not only affect your own outlook and actions but that of others as well. This power is what allows all of us to contribute to the state that our society and this world are in right now. Think about today, last week, a year ago, and your entire life. 

How often have you been truly happy and filled with joy?
How did you handle your struggles and tragedies?
How did you treat your loved ones and other people you encountered?
How often did you feel resentment, guilt, or regret?
How many times did you criticize, judge, or blame?

“What you see in others is a reflection of yourself.”

Now, this statement can be debated for days on end, and it has but I believe we may be misunderstanding it. This statement does not say, “What others do is what you do.” Although comparing behavior is much easier to see the similarities we have in others, this is not talking about the specific actions of a person. It goes much deeper to the reasons for the behavior you are noticing in others and much of it has to do with your reaction to it all.

It is easier to begin with your own thoughts and behaviour. If you judge people for the way they look, what they said or did, or something that you have made an assumption on without knowing all the facts, then it is very likely that you are critical towards yourself and are being shown ways that you need to be more kind, accepting, compassionate, grateful, forgiving, and loving. 

Taking that a bit further…if they do something that you disagree with…hurting others or being aggressive in any way is probably right there at the top of the list for most unacceptable behaviours, so we will use that. Hurting and aggression can affect people physically, emotionally, and mentally. It doesn’t matter which way you do it, they are all equally intolerable. And it doesn’t matter how many people you hurt, just one person is too many and is the same as hurting a hundred.

If you are a compassionate person without a mean bone in your body, you may be wondering how this statement could possibly apply to you; but it does if you find you have been and are reacting to what you see, especially if your reactions are emotionally charged.

To recognize how we are similar to others, we can begin with a bit of reflection of our own behaviour. We can think back on any instances where we may have physically hurt someone on purpose, excessively yelled at a loved one, criticized, gossiped, shamed, blamed, embarrassed, judged, ridiculed, or stolen energy by use of your controldramas. 

Looking a little deeper

If, by some chance, you can honestly say that you have never in your life and currently don’t do any of these things, then you may now look a bit deeper to the reasons. Consider why people hurt others, what could have brought them to make that decision, what the events leading up to it may have been like for them, and how they may have been raised and treated by their peers. Having and understanding of the cause may help bring our attention to what the person is going through inside the turmoil of their inner world. 

We can then start to see the negative emotions they are holding onto more clearly. Anger, frustration, sadness, confusion, mistrust, guilt, resentment, regret, emptiness, and so many more begin to surface into our awareness which allows us to be able to trace every one of them back to Fear. Bottom line, Fear exists, everywhere, in each and every one of us. It is the common denominator.

Have you ever felt any of those negative emotions listed above? If you have or currently are, then there is a connection you can make. Keep in mind that this “reflection of yourself” does not have to mean the specific action that was made. This person is in your reality to show you what you must heal within yourself. Free will is what changes everything and is what makes the difference is what one person does compared to another.  How long ago was it that you were feeling those emotions? What was happening? How did you react? How did you treat others at this time?

More importantly, how did you treat yourself?

Really, it all comes right back down to you. If you still can’t see the connection of how the people in our lives are a mirror image of us showing us what we need to learn about ourselves, consider everything you just read and think about how you feel about yourself, how you talk to and about yourself, how well you look after your health, how you honestly think about who you really are, and how worthy you are of having an abundant life filled with happiness, peace, love, prosperity, and pure joy.

Self-love is not as evident in the world as it should be. We are not taught how to love and value ourselves from the time we are little; we are taught how to please others and grow up worrying more about what other people might think about us. It would be a very different place if we were taught how to love, how to connect to source from within, and how to raise our own energy without subconsciously stealing it from others.

“Be the change you want to see.”

Next time you see something in another that you like, find it in you and celebrate it. When you see something you don’t like in someone, pay attention to your thoughts and judgments that arise, and take some time to reflect on it. Start to see how you are creating this reality all around you by bringing it right back home to yourself. How can you show more love and kindness, first, towards you, then to those around you?

We can change the world and make it a better place to live in. It just takes one brave soul at a time, harnessing the power within to become the light and shine goodness back into the hearts of those it touches every day.

Understanding a Lost Soul and Being a Light in the Darkness

The essence of the quote below by Bob Perly is to be the light for others when they lose their way but what stuck out for me was a deeper understanding of the person who is really lost. As I go back through all my posts on the Becoming Authentically You Facebook Page, I see that around September I stumbled off my path a bit. With some reflection, I am aware that I may be heading in the wrong direction… or am I ??? That remains to be seen since I do not have the gift of foresight.

It is hard to see the bigger picture of what we are going through when you are right in the thick of it. I had hoped that maybe I was going through the Dark Night of the Soul but here it is January and I seem to be falling deeper and deeper into a pit of despair. I know that this emotional pain I have been going through is what happens when you walk away from yourself, when you give away all your power and hand over your pen to allow someone else to write the story you must live, when you blow out what’s left of that little light that flickers inside. 

My faith has always been strong. I’ve gotten through many struggles and more than my fair share of traumatic experiences. But something feels different this time. I feel my hope slipping away, the one thing I could always count on my whole life. No matter how much I try or how hard I pray for guidance, I seem to slip a bit further. Somehow I keep finding the strength to go on, just one more step towards my salvation. Faith keeps the determination going, weak as it may be but so far it has been enough. I’m still here, still trying, not ready to give up just yet.

Full Quote about Lost Souls by Bob Perly:

“We are equal at a soul's level. We are all souls going through the same human experience, all for the same purpose of learning and growing. The more you can see and understand this, the more accepting and forgiving of others you will be. And the more tolerant of other people you will be. This also helps you learn to accept yourself and your own journey, because being able to see everyone as equal you won't see yourself as someone more or less than another. 

Some people have it harder than others, that's a given, but some of those people may get lost in darkness and lose sight of any light ahead. They may try to find a way out, but without any light they dig deeper and deeper into the darkness, becoming more and more lost and disconnected from themselves and their purpose, and eventually lose all hope of escaping it. They will accept the fact that there is no way out, or make themselves believe they don't deserve anything better, and give up entirely on trying, surrendering to a life of darkness and suffering. This is when they need someone to find them, and be there to help lead them back into the safety of the light. 

When a soul is lost they become spiritually disconnected from themselves, with no sense of purpose to their lives. Their emotions and memories are often suppressed, and when it is not handled in a healthy way, negative emotions start to build and surface, and then possibly take over their entire being. This is why lost souls are often angry, and lose all respect for life around them. Anger, Deceit, Greed, Ignorance, Jealousy, and other negative traits take over and start to show, because it is the only way they have learned how to handle things. When you lose faith and hope, sometimes it is a lot easier to give up and give in, and surrender to the negativity in the world around you and end up being highly influenced by it all. When this happens, all spiritual connections to themselves and others, or any divine protection or guidance is lost or greatly hindered. Reason is, because negative emotions lower the vibration of your energy light, your souls light. This causes your light energy to weaken and dim, making it harder to connect with you on any kind of spiritual level. This is how you can become lost, by being disconnected from yourself and others, and any divine protection or guidance.

As for the Divine protection and guidance, well, we all hear about Spirit Guides and Guardian Angels being there to watch over us and guide us through life. Some believe it, some don't, in fact most don't believe in it. Well, for me, I do. I don't just believe it, I feel it as truth, but of course it takes experiencing it in order to truly believe it; and not everyone has experienced such beautiful things in their lives yet. But one day, everyone will experience it for themselves, in their own time. Eventually everyone will know the truth of everything. Until then, all I can do is try to help open up more minds to the possibilities, because really anything is possible if we ourselves exist. 

Well, rather you can believe it or not, we are all born with our own personal guardian angels, rather it be family and loved ones in heaven, or Angels that have chosen to help guide you. That guidance and protection we receive is a spiritual connection that is fed into our heart and souls through our whole lives. Without it, we can become very lost in life. Think of this spiritual connection as a cellphone's signal strength. The person on the other side (your guardian angels) is there to help guide you through your life, but a line of communication is needed to do so. So this signal and its strength are very important for this guidance and protection that you receive daily from your Angels and any Divine beings. If the signal is weak, than the communication is in and out, and the message is not entirely received, being chopped and fragmented. This can make life much harder to deal with, and become more susceptible of losing all means of communication. But it is always possible to restore and strengthen this signal on your own, even if it requires a little help from another. But when that signal is lost entirely, so is the soul that is being guided. All communication to your guides and guardians is lost, and the soul wanders aimlessly with no protection or any direction to follow. Yes, they may no longer be able to see any light while engulfed in darkness, but they can still hear, it is just that there is no one there to be that voice to help guide them out. 

When the soul is lost, their Angels may not be able to help them as needed. When this happens, a soul in physical form is needed to takeover and helps find them in order to help lead them back to safety, by being that light for them. This an important part of being in human form, to be there for each other when no one else can, and help keep us all within the protection and guidance of God's light and his Angels. As humans, we have the power to help find and guide a lost and disconnected soul, when God and his angels may not be able to do so themselves. This is done by giving these souls the same unconditional love that God and the Angels provide for all of us, which can help strengthen or restore their faith, their hope, and their spiritual connection. We must always be there for each other, to help one another get through our own journeys. We are not here just for ourselves, but for each other. We have the power and ability to be a light for others. But remember, a soul that is already lost and disconnected themselves cannot be a light for others. One must find their way out, either alone or together first, then they will be able to do the same for others.

One thing to note is, that a lost soul isn't always someone that is in a very dark place of suffering, but anyone that is disconnected from themselves spiritually and lose sight of their true loving selves.
But! The lesson is, stop judging! and allow yourself to see every soul as an equal. Allow yourself to see that some people have lost their way, and understand that they just need a little unconditional love and guidance to find their way back onto their lighted path, so they can rediscover their true self and purpose. Understand that what they are going through is part their own journey, and a part of who they are on the outside, but not who they truly are on the inside. They too need to find a way to learn and grow from it all, but not everyone has the tools to do so on their own. Sometimes it takes the unconditional love of another to help them. 

Don't contribute to helping a soul stay lost, instead be a light for them, or at least pray and ask God to send someone to help guide them. Fact of the matter is, some people just don't have anyone praying for them, no one that cares enough to do so, which is just sad. Praying for others is as good and as powerful as praying for yourself and your family, and it is especially powerful for those souls lost on their path. Your prayers will always be a blessing, to those you pray for and for you. That love and compassion will always feed back into your heart and soul.”