The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I attended a Compliance and Legal Conference in San Francisco last week and during that conference one thing that really resonated with me was when the presenter, a well known lawyer, said "When you work with a client, you have to know the good, the bad and the ugly." This phrase did not spark anything in me on the legal realm but it did in a more spiritual level. After the conference, I kept thinking... when we work with ourselves, do we allow ourselves to see the good, the bad and the ugly? How many times do we self-deny parts of ourselves? And here I am not talking about the ugly only because it is easy to see ourselves looking the other way when a shadow aspect of ourselves is screaming for attention. Here I am talking about the good in us as well, do you find yourself acknowledging those areas you do well? Do you find yourself always looking at the negative and never acknowledging the positive in you? It is easier to say... I am not good at cooking, I am not good at drawing, I am not good at public speaking; but when it comes to say I am a good writer, or I am beautiful, or I am intelligent, do you find resistance within yourself? Can you take a compliment without having to explain anything - just say thank you? How many times somebody says "oh you look really beautiful today" and we go into the mode of explaining "thank you, I got this new sweater for x dollar amount"? 

In order to grow and evolve in this lifetime, we need to be able to look at the good, the bad and the ugly. When it comes to the bad and the ugly, we don´t need to bang our heads to the wall or hit ourselves in the head; we just need the will to look in the mirror and accept those parts of ourselves that may not be as pretty or as charming but they still hold part of our essence and our energies. Those parts are the ones that hold the power because we utilize so much of our energy in keeping them hidden or in the dark. If we spent less time holding those in the dark, we would have more energy to see them for what they are - emotions or habits - and let them go. I like the phrase that I read a few weeks ago in one of my Enneagram books that said "Just observe and let go" because we can get tangled in the ugly, we can get depressed, we can get angry, but if we just say "yes, this is part of me... and move on" you can free the energy and use that energy for something else that may need more attention than the ugly monster in the closet.

I invite you to take some time and meditate on these questions. Do you feel like you can see the good, the bad and the ugly in yourself? What about in others? There should be no judgement on yourself or others, just awareness and acceptance because in order to be a whole individual, healthy and harmonious, we need to be able to face the mirror and accept the good in the same way we accept the bad and the ugly. They are all parts of us. Neither of them more important than the other. Take the challenge and accept yourself fully as you are! You are Divine.

Many blessings,

Carolina )0(

Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis