When you have a strong desire to heal, release the past or accelerate your spiritual awareness, it is essential to know who you are. This includes your beliefs, the way you think, your limitations, controlling influences on your life etc. It is important to question these things as they create a box that holds what is possible for you. In some cases, the boxes may even keep you feeling unfulfilled, low in vitality, trapped and controlled by others. If you want freedom and authentic well-being, then you may need to step outside of your box.
What Box Are You In?
A box, in this context, means how you and society define and shape who you are. Society may include institutions, governments, education systems, religions, groups, associations etc.
As an exercise to understand what box you are in, spend some time thinking about your early childhood. How were you taught, and what were you taught? This would probably be things like what manners are, how to interact and play with others etc. Especially look at anything with a social or religious slant on it. This could be the expectations for a girl or boy as you grow up, what roles you must play when older (mother, father, wife, husband), etc. Were any other options given? What would happen if you did not follow what was appropriate?
Now fast forward to your school years. Think about the expectations placed on you. Do you remember the discipline, school uniforms, assemblies, group activities? What happened to your individuality, and what would happen to you if you expressed this? Was it encouraged, or were you taught to act, behave and look like everyone else? If so, why was this? Were you already placed in a box? If so, did this have an impact on your adult life?
When questioning aspects of your life, don’t take at face value what you think. Always question it to ensure your views and beliefs are not merely conditioning. I like to do this type of questioning when I find myself either repeating an opinion, thought or belief. The more you question, the more you may start to align yourself back to who you are and not the box. It is in this place of freedom that true healing, inner strength, well-being, and growth can take place.
One word of caution. It is essential not to take yourself out of a box and then to place yourself into another. Remember, you are a divine, infinite, expansive energy being. Sometimes you must use labels to identify yourself; don’t define your existence by them. When using a label, try and use them as a mask. Use the label when necessary, and then remove it when it is not. This way, you don’t believe and define yourself as the label – thereby creating another box.
