Sometimes, the best words of advice and encouragement come from ourselves. Weird, I know. But we’re the ones who know our situation the best. I like to calls these Note to Self or Messages From the Future.
When we’re the ones addressing ourselves, we know the intimate details of what we’re living. We know the situation, the hesitations, consequences and fears, as well as all the possible positive points. Ultimately, we know who we feel.
Today, I’d like to read a book that helps me focus on a great new note to myself. Frankly, I’m hoping for a really quick MiniBook here.
Let’s do this!
The Council of Me
The Council of Me is a group of versions of myself through time, past, present and future that I can consult at any time to remain true to myself, happy in my life, connected with my purpose even as my purpose may change and allow ourselves to both be anchored in the present moment, but open to more.
I’d like to call this meeting of the Council of Me to order. Thank you all Me’s who are present. Your continued presence, support and action in these years of life are always appreciated. Madame Secretary has reminded me of the minutes of the previous meeting where we elected that Me/Us was not going to lose my/our temper and confront an individual. Today, there has been a motion to approach a current situation of ___ with ____. All those in favor of moving in ___ direction, say AI, all opposed say NAY. Let us be reminded that all decisions made here at the Council of Me must be truly representational of the best of Me/Us in a fashion that makes all possible versions of myself/ourselves pleased with the choice and outcome with authenticity, clarity and our spirit’s best. Any action or non-action made outside of the agreement of the Council should be considered reckless and unjustified.
Any and all Councils of Me should contain our current self in all it’s glory, the good stuff and the bad. The current self is the Chairperson holding most meetings. In addition to our current self, the Council is best to have several versions one can connect with, from the youngest to the oldest one can possibly imagine. For instance, having a Me of 4 years old and one of 90 years old. Then, it is also recommended to fill other positions with versions of ourselves that stand out in our lived narrative: say one from elementary school, one from high school and more… And complete the council with ideas of future selves that we might be inspired by older people we admire and reflect part of ourselves.
The Council’s advice vs. others
I like to ask people what they think of a situation. I hope and pray for guidance. I crave it. But there’s something that the Council can do that others cannot: know how we truly feel.
In asking for advice or just receiving it without asking, others may feel that they know quite a bit about what we’re living. They are so confident and caring. It’s truly beautiful. However, there are more nuances and complexities, consequences and feeling than others can probably see. Bless them.
I still love to receive guidance, but it doesn’t replace the Council of Me 🙂
The Council’s advice vs. prayer
Prayer. Now, this one can be considered controversial…
Overshare: I am a pretty big fan of prayer and connection. I do not believe it is my place to go into religion and spirituality except to say that I believe in believing.
Overshare again: Dad used to say to “Put it in God’s hands, Dear”. Full honesty, it really ticked me off when he said that. I wanted HIS opinion! I wanted HIS guidance! I was coming to HIM, sometimes in tears, begging for him to share wisdom and his vision with me. And, all he said, EVERY SINGLE FREAKING TIME was “Put it in God’s hands, Dear”. Now, I do not mean to disrespect Dad at all and I sincerely hope it doesn’t come off that way, he’s one of my pillars of respect and gratitude in my life. However, it took after he passed away to understand what he was telling me. He saw that I was trying to control everything and he learned in his life to sometimes, give space and belief a chance.
I believe in prayer. But I do something that connects with me better. I write letters that I never send. My prayers are addressed to the source that connect with and I ask how they are doing (always ask! It’s basic politeness) and I give gratitudes for what is pertinent at the time. I go into my issue and ask for the guidance I feel I need.
So, this does a few things:
- Gratitude is a great place to come from.
- Writing is allowing us to connect with our words better.
- Expressing something in a letter allows us to fully examine the situation we are living and can often come with a great deal of enlightenment.
- We tend to slow down when we write.
- We are essentially, to some extent, putting it in the hands of our belief.
Sidenote: I avoid blame and anger, but I am always truthful and open in these letters. I always sign of with love and appreciation.
Though I approached the concept of writing things out with a specific destination, I do suggest writing simply to ourselves or to others. These letters are not to be sent, they are for ourselves.
The Declaration of Me’s
Overshare: As a kid, we pledged the O! Canada every day at the beginning of school along with a prayer. I kind of liked that because it was something we did together every day.
Having a personal “mantra”, saying, principle, missions statement, goals, values, or even a visual that anchors us into our overall journey of this life is something I highly endorse.
The process of writing them and coming up with what our values may be, our goals, our mission statement and all are all attention into our life that we are currently living. We are not random wood logs floating on a river. We are active, alive and full of so much.
The Council helps us keep our Declaration on point and makes changes as life and the Council feel is right.
I love writing notes to myself, be it to understand a situation better, as encouragement or just to connect with the Council 🙂
Enjoy 🙂
Karine