Are we ever there?

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ARE WE EVER THERE?

 

I’ve been asked this question many times and so I thought I would put my words down in this blog, and I’d like to begin at the beginning first.

 

Acceptance

 

Just imagine, how would it be for you to accept all of you?    I am talking about those parts of you that you don’t want to acknowledge, and are pretending aren’t there.   You’ll know what I am talking about as you are probably afraid that they will be seen and you will be found out as wanting – even a fraud!

Well that’s what my work is all about.    I’ll say it again – I’m talking here about acceptance of YOU – all the parts of you.  And this is what underpins my work.

 

Coming home to Yourself

 

I work with those women who will be nodding their head in response to my favourite quotation (as you will know by now!) Nelson Mandela’s  “There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living”.

This is what fills my Soul and, in my own voice, I have been saying it in different ways for over thirty years.   I am (and have been) talking about ‘coming home to yourself’.

My way of being is about enabling you to make an investment (and I’m not only talking about financially here) in yourself by seeing what could be blocking you, not only from your passion, from re-connection with yourself, your heart, your soul or the Divine (whatever you choose to call it).   I am here to support you to see your bigger picture.

 

Vulnerability, Loneliness, Helplessness…

 

Yes, it takes courage to own your gifts, your talents, you and to accept all of you – not just the parts you want to show the world so you will be included.   Somewhere or somehow you know what you are capable of expressing that’ll enhance your own life, and contribute to the greater good.

You can be conscious and unconscious about how you distract yourself from your vulnerability, loneliness, helplessness, fear, anger or being dis-connected from yourself.  You know yourself best and it could be over:

• Busyness
• Drinking
• Eating
• Exercising
• Any of the addictions
• Hiding your feelings
• You can be so busy ‘doing’ that you forget all about ‘being’
• ………….. You put your own one in here!!

 

Addressing the ‘shadow’

 

My work is about addressing the shadow in whatever form that takes.  Sometimes, you would look at what’s getting in your way or blocking you and or what you’re not including about you.

One of the ways I would go about it is for you to be conscious in the recognition of what you are doing, having acceptance of this and getting to know it and then seeing the gift it has to offer you.

I’ll give you an example from my own life.

However, much I say ‘I’m not bothered if they don’t like me’, I am!!   I want to be liked and included.   Over the years, I learned different strategies to ensure that I was included.   I’ve done a lot of self-development and now, although I still want to be liked, I no longer have to give myself away for this to happen!

I am able to include much more of me as I can include my vulnerability as well as being able to stand on my own two feet.   It is both- and (another thing I’ve been going on about for years!!).

I guess I could sum it up from an example from Facebook of a photo which said –

‘I’m a strong person and every once in a while I would like someone to take my hand and tell me that everything is going to be alright”

You might even be one of those who ‘liked’ or ‘commented’ on it on my Facebook page!!

Again, this is what I’m talking about and it really touches my Soul.  It’s about the ‘both-and’ and acknowledging your strength and vulnerability so you no longer need to feel you will be found out.

 

Are we ever there?

 

We are never ‘there’ – wherever that is!  We move forward and then we have to go back to integrate our learning about ourselves and life.  This cycle is not linear – it’s a spiral.   It is evolution and normal.  What do we say – two steps forward and three back!!   In my opinion, our search is for ourselves – to keep bringing in and expressing more of ourselves as we grow and develop.  This cycle keeps going on throughout our life, so how can we get ‘there’!

My work is about facing and embracing our shadow – the parts you want to hide away.   It is about the re-connection with your Heart, your Soul, your Essence, the Divine, the Transpersonal Self again.  Or you can simply say your Spirituality which I see as my natural connection with the wonder and energy of life, and my impulse to be with and also explore it from my own and others’ experience.

Finally as Carl Jung says, ‘Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.’  If that’s not a good enough reason in itself, I don’t know what is.

 

 

I look forward to hearing from you on how I can support you in getting back to your natural gifts and talents and using them in a way that works for you.  I can assure you that you won’t just be an object to me.  I’ll be accompanying you on the journey as your guide.     Contact me on irene@irenebrankin.co.uk or send me your phone number and we can have a chat.

 

 

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