We often think of ourselves in relationship to others. We think of ourselves as man/woman, daughter/son, husband/wife, mother/father etc.
How we fare in these roles that we play also is validated by our perception of others’ opinions of us. We build our whole identity on how we think we perform our roles and what others think of us.
If our whole identity is built by the outside perceptions and our performance in lieu of that, it can seriously mess up our inner world.
In fulfilling different roles we adhere to societal norms and expectations. In doing so our self-interest invariably takes a back seat.
Kriti had come to De Mantraa in utter despair. She had arthritis early in life, she was not yet 50 years old. She was a well-educated girl who had looked forward to working and being successful in life. Her conservative father got her married off soon after she completed her studies though.
Kriti gave her energy to settling within her new family where she had a highly successful husband who didn’t have much time for her. She became a good wife and daughter-in-law, burying her ambitions in looking after her family.
Her aspirations were in the back seat reminding her at times of the dreams she had given up. Her inner self was angry at her negligence towards herself. It expressed its anger by attacking her joints that were holding up a life that had less meaning for her because of her unrecognised dreams.
We worked with her to get her past her anger at the outside and her inner worlds, rewiring the old crippling beliefs to make way for more empowering ones; Kriti was able to let go of her arthritis. Within a couple of sessions she was free of the pain and she was walking straighter.
Kriti went on to get meaning to her life with the changed neuro-pathways helping her to let go of the past and to start living in her present to build a much better future for herself.
The environment is powerful always and it requires courage and determination to stand up for oneself. Kriti made the choice to be liberated and we showed her that it is doable.
What do you choose to let go today, to bring out your true identity?