Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Aug/Sept 2017 Aspire Mag Full Issue | Page 76

We learn that it is our duty to be thin, pretty, pleasing, and ON all the time. We learn that it matters more what other people think about us than what we think about ourselves. emotions and feel them fully but not perish in the process — then they can reveal themselves to you as they really are: messengers bearing bits of your wisdom; breadcrumbs forming a trail pointing you to your next moves in life. So we assume that if we control our emotions and our bodies, and never get too big, too loud, or too powerful, then we’ll finally feel worthy. In the darkest heart of even the hardest feelings waits a shining gem of your inner clarity and authority. But actually, the whole bass-ackward mess only serves to mute our truth, hobble our self-confidence, and dim our light. MISCONCEPTION #2 This is because the instructions we receive for life are based on some serious misconceptions about women, girls, and what I call our “feminine genius.” MISCONCEPTION #1 Dark emotions mean you are crazy. We as a culture don’t have much place for feelings like rage. Grief. Exhaustion. Depression. (And sometimes, even big displays of joy and ecstasy). We (mistakenly) assume that we shouldn’t be having these “dark,” intense, or inconvenient emotions. That they are a sign of an incomplete spiritual ascension, a lack of control, or an unhealed childhood, and should be meditated, medicated, or caffeinated away. I’m the first to admit that dark emotions are scary. They often feel as though you’ve been dragged under a riptide and will drown before the pounding waves of feeling let up. But really, when how to work with your 76 Never, ever lose focus on your physical appearance. Nearly every girl and woman is taught that your body is your main currency to trade for feeling valuable and desirable. As you exchanged diapers for big-girl panties, you likely learned that how you look (which is dictated by just about everyone but you) is your main ticket to worth. IN THE DARKEST HEART OF EVEN THE HARDEST FEELINGS WAITS A SHINING GEM OF YOUR INNER CLARITY AND AUTHORITY. Which of course takes a boatload of work that exhausts you and saps your soul as you spend overtime the gym and the makeup counter at Sephora. But there comes a time when you pull the wool off your eyes and start to see the con for what it is: your lifelong worry about physical appearance is a tactic of mass distraction. www.AspireMAG.net | August / September 2017