Awakening to Future You
Claim you sovereignty by swapping "could" for "should."
It’s 11:11 Are you supporting Future You with your current beliefs, thoughts and actions? Love is the raw material of the Universe and the principle force from which all life takes form. When you love the future you wish for, it can arrive in your life with ease because love is a powerful attractor. Whenever you are having, being or doing something that you love, your energy is relaxed, coherent and attracts similar energy. Whenever your heart energy is amplified in this way, you become magnetic to that which you desire as well as to other open-hearted people with similar desires. Love and appreciation uplift you to the realm where creative energy can coalesce tiny sparks of desire and inspiration into a tangible reality.
Aligning more with your soul’s agenda requires that you get really honest with yourself about what you desire in your heart of hearts. Your true desires are trustworthy and contain all the resources that you need to make them a reality. Your deepest and most authentic desires will reliably lead you to the experiences that your soul seeks and away from situations that distract you from your soul’s mission. When something feels attractive, compelling and inspiring, it may be an invitation from your Future Self to step into a grander version of you.
Should Implies Force
Unfortunately, many of us have been conditioned to delay, deflect or deny our heartfelt desires because of shoulds we inherited from family, church or popular culture.
Shoulds override the heart’s wisdom.
Shoulds give way too much power to the mind, which is often critical and therefore an untrustworthy ally when tending your soul.
Shoulds strengthen the ego’s self-aggrandizing/self-negating behaviors, leading to conflict, disappointment or resentment.
Shoulds prevent us from living wholeheartedly, according to the soul’s blueprint.
It takes courage to eliminate shoulds from your vocabulary because they often represent a source of pride or seem to provide evidence that you’re a “good person.” Sadly, many of us have internalized as virtuous the very beliefs that shut down authentic desire like, What should I want? You have to earn it! or You mustn't be selfish. When you hold these or similar self-limiting beliefs, they have soul-crushing consequences: You will shame yourself into giving up on the fulfilling future your soul planned for you in favor of a should that doesn’t even belong to you.
Doing what you love expands your heart and aligns you with your soul. Doing what you “should” shuts down your heart and amplifies the voice of the “Inner Critic.”
You can desire whatever you please without limit as the Universe is infinite and responsive to your intentions. If you want to spend your energy in service to others and it makes your heart happy, that's grand, but it's not a requirement for enlightenment. Sacrificing your happiness or well being for someone else’s is harmful to both parties—it feeds the ego of the one doing the sacrificing while depriving the receiver of the confidence gained by solving her own problems.
Getting to the authentic desire behind what you do every day can infuse even the most mundane activities of life with soul. By choosing to be in a state of love, whatever you do, nothing and no one can steal your joy. You may not love going to work, for example, but you can love the fact that working serves a soulful purpose in that it supports you and your family. You may not love doing laundry, food shopping or chores, but those activities are nourishing expressions of self-love. You may not love exercising, but you do love yourself enough to put effort into achieving a healthy body.
Could Implies Choice
To increase your awareness of your authentic desires, replace the word should with could. By switching from a should to could mindset, you fully exercise the sovereignty that your choice represents. Could implies freedom, possibilities and potentials, while should implies unforgiving, non-negotiable obligations. Shifting from should to could in your internal dialogue can dislodge the unsupportive beliefs that cause you to deny your authentic desires in favor of a habitual should. Substituting could for should eliminates feelings of victimization, as it signifies that something has been chosen by you and not forced upon you from an outside source.
Don’t Should on Yourself!
Spiritual Practice: In this practice, you will be using the creative faculty of visualization to align with the desires of the heart rather than defaulting to visualizing the future based on the worries in the mind. Choosing to love what you do and do what you love dignifies all of your activities and restores you to your rightful place as a sovereign being.
Spend two minutes awakening and connecting with Future You today. First, connect with your heart by placing your palm over the center of your chest with the intention of accessing your deepest, most heartfelt desires. Imagine your heart expanding with each breath until its energy enfolds you and emanates from you. Now imagine plunging your mind into your heart until their energies merge, and then visualize yourself having, doing or being what you love.
Immerse yourself in the image fully, feeling into the scene as if it has already been accomplished, using all of your senses. Notice who or what is around you, how you’re dressed or what the dialogue revolves around in your ideal scene. What feelings does it evoke? Allow the visualization of Future You to be very real, a part of you that you relate to freely and often. Make choices now that make FutureYou happy, healthy and proud. Ask Future You to share insights or ideas that can guide you toward a fulfilling future.
The majority of problems on this planet are the result of the idea that humans are not sovereign and autonomous, but property owned by primitive gods and incompetent governments. ~ Christopher S. Hyatt