All of us arrive on earth with souls in perfect form. But from the moment of birth onward, the soul or true self is assailed by deforming forces from without and within: by racism, sexism, economic injustice, and other social cancers; by jealousy, resentment, self-doubt, fear, and other demons of the inner life.

Most of us can make a long list of the external enemies of the soul, in the absence of which we are sure we would be better people! Because we so quickly blame our problems on forces “out there,” we need to see how often we conspire in our own deformation: for every external power bent on twisting us out of shape, there is a potential collaborator within us. When our impulse to tell the truth is thwarted by threats of punishment, it is because we value security over being truthful. When our impulse to side with the weak is thwarted by threats of lost social standing, it is because we value popularity over being a pariah.

The powers and principalities would hold less sway over our lives if we refused to collaborate with them. But refusal is risky, so we deny our own truth, take up lives of “self-impersonation,” and betray our identities. And yet the soul persistently calls us back to our birthright form, back to lives that are grounded, connected, and whole. 

Parker J. Palmer — A Hidden Wholeness (p. 34)

It’s seems too easy to point to the external forces in my life as the cause for my difficulties. Truth be told, there are external forces that affect my life, but there are internal forces that could have the biggest impact for the good—if only I would allow it.

Sure, we all arrive on earth with souls in perfect form. But after the heartache and pain start to pile up, our souls don’t feel so perfect anymore.  Many people do have very unfortunate external circumstances, I get that, but denying our own truth and betraying our identities is causing us way more problems than the external circumstance ever could.

“The soul persistently calls us back to our birthright form, back to lives that are grounded, connected, and whole.”

Have a blessed day.

Peace and Love,

~Travis