HJ: This is a powerful story from one of the greatest spiritual guides of our time helping us to understand the importance of self trust. Many people are not able to identify with the fact that they may have trust issues because they are so ingrained in their personality and perception, that they are taken for granted and accepted as part of their reality. Only through mindfulness and the commitment to self inquiry — taking a thorough and brutally honest inventory of ones life and beliefs can this be observed and ultimately dealt with. I should know, as this is one of my biggest challenges. For years I was not able to see how distrust was operating in my life. It was only when I began to view my thoughts and beliefs with objectivity through the regular practice of mindfulness, that I was finally able to see it. Now it is as clear as day and I can observe when this pattern resurfaces — most importantly, I no longer identify with it and so day by day it loses its power over me.
Wayne Dyer, in his wonderful article below, shares with us his guidance on learning to trust ourselves, among other things. He shares powerful stories from his life that provide profound insight into this topic.
– Truth
Listen and Trust
Let your Source be in charge. Your life of meaning begins with trusting God.
By Dr. Wayne W. Dyer | Heal Your Life
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IF WE’RE HONEST with ourselves, every one of us can agree that we’re acquainted with the ego part that controls and manages our lives and eagerly attempts to do the same for others. Be they family, friends, co-workers, or even strangers, ego routinely accepts the job of edging God out and taking on the role of being the master manipulator. As we move in a different direction, we realize the pointlessness of attempting to control any individual or any situation. We recognize this need to practice interference as the power trip of our false self.
There was a time in my life, for instance, when I needed to be in charge of most social conversations. Having made the shift from control to trust means that I now flow with the conversational direction and opinions that are expressed. I’m content to sit back and observe, even as others take on the false-self role, as I view it. I can smile inwardly at some of my children’s choices in life even when I disagree. The shift from control to trust has increased my noninterference.
Beyond my personal interactions with friends and family, in a much larger sense I trust more and control less. In my heart I know that God writes the books, delivers the speeches, and builds the bridges. When trust replaces control, edging God out isn’t appealing. “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen” may have been Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words, but I agree so completely that they could be my own. I absolutely trust the wisdom of the universe and its creative Source.
With trust, we acknowledge our own wisdom. We remember that we came from the same Source and, therefore, must be like what we came from. We can trust Source to guide us, rather than screw things up with ego’s demands for self-recognition and belief in our superiority. Trust lets us listen rather than take over. Listening allows us to comfortably sit back, knowing that the creative Source of everything is in charge instead of our puny little ego. Shifting from control to trust is so important for our life work.
In The Shift movie, I relate how I found the road that resonated with the calling of my soul. I did so by listening to what I was feeling deep within me, rather than what my ego was saying to me about how to capitalize on my fame by writing books to make more money. By trusting my inner excitement, I was able to make a big shift in my life, away from writing about psychology to writing about living life from a spiritual orientation. That shift away from the Ambition of ego, which tried to control my writing and speaking career, put me on the path of Meaning.
When you disengage from ego control, what is it that you trust? There are three markers to look for on this road. They are: trust in yourself, trust in others, and trust in the Source of being. Here’s a brief explanation of each of them:
— Trust in yourself. This means hearing your soul speak in whatever way it does. Intuition is generally a reliable voice, in whatever form it expresses itself individually. Mahatma Gandhi explained his sense of it: “What is Truth? A difficult question; but I have solved it for myself by saying that it is what the ‘voice within’ tells you.”
— Trust in others. This means noninterference as much as possible. Everyone has the universe located in him or her; trusting others frees you from feeling obligated to interfere. In the words of Lao-tzu in the Tao Te Ching: “Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it? I do not believe it can be done.”
— Trust in the Source of being. This means trusting the mystery of creation. The universal Source of all creation, invisible though it may be, guides you just as it guided your development in the womb. When you trust in Divine intelligence, you cooperate and invite the shift to Meaning.
Wayne W. Dyer, Ph.D., is an internationally renowned author and speaker in the field of self-development. Wayne holds a doctorate in educational counseling from Wayne State University and was an associate professor at St. John’s University in New York.
