Credentials, knowledge, wisdom, discernment, giftedness…
A woman turned to me and said one phrase, “Boy! I bet you feel like a loser!” Actually, I was feeling a bit proud of myself. I had remained focused.
As person after person voiced their credentials, I waited my turn. What would I say?
Because I had recently moved and was beginning a completely different expression of my work, I chose to talk about my dreams for the future, rather than past achievements. The other people present were building on their accomplishments. I was introducing something new.
I could have stated my college degree and dazzled the group with a litany of certifications. Then, I could have wowed them with my abilities through a dramatic success story or two.
Though impressing them with a past self would have opened doors, they would have been revolving doors swinging me back around to the past. Did I need to create a persona that would take years to unravel? Or, deepen relationships with people who judged my worthiness on credentials?
Eight simple words, “Boy, I bet you feel like a loser,” gave me a perspective that would serve to hone my discernment for years to come. That day I learned that just as revealing credentials can invite people to take notice, not telling them gives insight into how people jockey for position.
If the dark night had taught me anything it was to balance initiating out in the world, with responding to the Sacred within.
Credentials are good. In our Western world, we want to see diplomas on our doctors’ office walls. A medical license; however, does not guarantee the gift of healing that a formally uneducated medicine man might have.
Professors offer us knowledge and may inspire us beyond. Discovering our giftedness guides our decisions. Being attentive to our life experiences offers us wisdom and discernment.
When we beg for outer approval, we miss out on the power of personal transformation, power that not only heals us, but also frees other people. There is a place for each, credentials, knowledge, wisdom, discernment and giftedness.
Making Spirit Flesh*
What do you want? Are you initiating things that will get you there? How about listening to your intuition, your soul, your essence? Mystery has a way of fulfilling our dreams in unimaginable ways if we can let go of our constant need to control situations and how people perceive us.