Yesterday was the 4th of July. I have mixed feelings about this holiday. On the one hand, I have these amazing memories of picnics, time with family barbecuing hot dogs and hamburgers, swimming in our pool, eating watermelon and then going to the fireworks at night. As an adult, however, I have found that I struggle with celebrating a day that celebrates Independence from those we considered subjugating only to do the same to others. At the same time, every year there are people we know who are looking for a space to gather with friends and family and so the spiritual being in me feels called to open our doors and host our now annual Fourth of July potluck barbecue. This year, I think I came to a space where I could participate in this day in a new way. I have come to a place where I can honor the memories of the past, the inequalities that continue to exist today, be of service to the other beings in the Universe, and at the same time have a deeply personal reason to celebrate. So this year I celebrated my personal independence day.
Yesterday, I celebrated my independence from ideas of the past, which I had allowed to constrain me. So often on January 1st, we make resolutions for the year and then do not keep them. This year I chose not to make any resolutions. Rather, I made an eternal commitment to seek to evolve, grow, and liberate myself from agreements in my Book of Law, which were constraining and harmful to my personal and spiritual journey.
There is something liberating about being able to claim my own independence from those ideas and beliefs, which had previously constrained me. Perhaps this sense of independence and liberation is because one again I am bringing myself through my own 28-day spiritual cleansing program. LOL. Every time I do this, with myself, and with others, I find myself going back to two useful tools I have discovered: stalking and Byron Katie’s four questions. They help me clarify my thinking, liberating me from distortions, and helping me get at the root of the belief system, which has kept me trapped in a prison of my own maintenance.
While I would like to tell myself that I have worked through all my lies, or parasites as don Miguel Ruiz, refers to them, I know I have not. Each time I do, however, is another independence day. It is another day for me to celebrate removing the shackles from my belief system and being able to dance through my life with greater freedom, creativity, and appreciation of my capacity.
It is funny, that I would even write that as I recently wrote that on someone’s affirmation card I wrote that when they stopped doubting their capacity, they would stop doubting their sanity. After I gave it to them, they asked what that meant. I talked about how when we doubt the capacity of who we were created to be and our purpose in life, we find ourselves struggling with issues of self-worth and other self-degrading thoughts. When we come to realize that we are far more and far greater then we can ever imagine ourselves, we stop putting ourselves down. We liberate ourselves from those negative messages. We liberate ourselves from the habit of putting obstacles in our own path. We create our own independence day. So today and every day that I liberate myself from a thought pattern, belief, or behavior that is self-limiting I celebrate Independence Day. Happy Independence Day to me!