by Chris Cade
You’ve most certainly seen this in your life, and possible the lives of those you know about. It’s happened to me. The story starts out the same. You have one of those “amazingly super-duper spiritually enlightening aha moment experiences.”
You may have walked around for a few hours or even days without an ego…
It was mind-blowing to feel empty and spacious yet full…
For a night, it was inspiring to have the courage of a lion…
And for a moment, your consciousness expanded exponentially when you saw the entire Universe in a grain of sand.
But then something else happened. It wore off. The realization didn’t stick, and you realize something more immediate: you’re “just” you. Whoever you were before that incredible experience has returned to the present moment.
You hoped that the experience would transform your life forever. You hoped that if you had enough of those experiences, if you sought and found them, if you cherished them, they’d add up to enough realizations that you’d get to keep them all forever.
The thing is, transformation doesn’t work that way.
Realization is one thing. It’s the starting point. Realizations like those open us up to experiencing the world in new ways. Until we discover that the real challenge is not when we attain those realizations, but rather, living them in your daily life. That’s called “actualization.”
Actualization is when your realizations are so integrated into your being, that you live them naturally. You no longer have to “discover” the Truth of yourself because simply by existing you are an expression of that Truth.
It doesn’t matter if that Truth is as simple as having the courage to face your fears, or a deeper awareness such as the Universal interconnectedness we all share. Truth is Truth. And it’s a Truth you live without having to try and without having to alter your state of being to experience and live that Truth.
To simplify: Realization is the awareness. Actualization is the living embodiment of that awareness.
The thing is, few people experience real transformation in their lives because they spend more time chasing realizations than they do trying to actualize those realizations.
What good is awareness if you can’t bring it with you at the end of the experience?
Unfortunately, like all great spiritual Truths… the answer is simple, but not easy. In fact, to make your “aha” moments stick, you only have to do two things:
(1) Put into action what you realize
(2) Repeat step 1.
Or phrased another way: Practice the art of living.
It really is that simple. And yet, we have decades of historical conditioning, difficult experiences, and lack of spiritual support, many of which have been us practicing the art of non-living. The art of surviving. And while that was a necessary art to practice as a child, it’s not necessary to practice it in exactly the same ways as an adult.
We as adults have different needs than we did as chidlren. As such, our practices have to evolve, grow, and deepen. They can’t be based on our past — our practices must be based on the present. And therein lies the true secret to the two-step process above.
When you put your realizations into action, when you truly live them, you are living in the present moment. And the present moment is the only place where our practices can be integrated into our being such that they become actualizations.
Your Partner In Transformation,
Chris Cade
Liberate Your Life
P.S. When it comes to realizations…
One of the most difficult ones to live is around our “Self Worth.” Simply put… do we have value? And more importantly, is our value inherent to our being or is it something we have to earn?
If you’re like me and everybody I’ve ever met, there’s at least some aspect of you that feels you have to “earn” your worth. We do this by striving for the approval of others and avoiding rejection. Sometimes it’s in obvious big ways, and other times it’s so subtle or subconscious that you might not even be aware you’re doing it.
And if self worth is an area you’re still wanting to work on in your own life, then please feel free to join me on the free “Self Worth Summit.” I’ll be speaking alongside nearly 60 other speakers about this exact topic: How can we live, in our daily lives, with the experience of knowing that we matter?