This illuminating exercise shows right away where you get caught in letting your day-to-day life create you instead of you creating your life. You see how circumstances and relationships influence who you consider yourself to be, the roles you play and how you play them, the labels by which you identify yourself, the responsibilities you feel you must honor, what you think and feel about your life.

When our schedules get tight, it is very easy to get lost in the activities, the labels, the roles, the circumstances, and the responsibilities, allowing them to create our identity. Who we are becomes dictated by all that is going on. And what’s worse, we start to believe that that’s who we are! Spirit keeps reminding me each morning to wipe the slate clean—to let go of who I think I need to be. I can get lost in the self-assigned “responsibility” to be brilliant in that night’s lecture or to find the right words for the day’s coaching clients. I can get wrapped up in concern over a friend’s challenges and distress and lose the bigger picture of what might really be going on there, the picture that only my soul can show me. Or, I can get sidetracked from more important work because I’m crazed over the fact that I’ve been on the road so much, and the yard desperately needs to be mowed!

We tend to think of a “new day” as a new era or a new chapter in our lives. But, in fact, we can create a new beginning every single day. Each day we get to wipe the slate clean and choose who we want to be that day—what roles we will play and who we choose to be within those roles. When we wipe the slate clean and begin each day as pure essence, we find our souls again; and re-connect with the divine being inside that is walking in a human journey.

Spirit recently defined “soul” to me as “where your humanity meets your divinity and your divinity meets your humanity.” Soul is the connection between our divine essence, the higher self or God-self, and the ego, our physical being and personality. The soul is the only part of us that touches all of us—every part of our being, both human and divine. The slate called Life gets very filled with all of our responsibilities, relationships, challenges, conflicts, and missions of the moment, so that our ability to touch our souls, radiate our brilliant God-self magnificence, and give our gifts of Love to the world; gets lost in the shuffle.

Perhaps you feel that no matter what you do, your slate is already filled when you first get out of bed in the morning. It may feel like the roles you must play and the responsibilities you must meet—parent, spouse, job, caretaker—are there waiting for you regardless of what you choose. In fact, you may not be able to change your circumstance or responsibilities in the moment, but you can choose how you want to inhabit the roles and meet the responsibilities. You can choose who you want to be within those circumstances. By wiping the slate clean and creating a new beginning each morning, you get to take off the role, step out of the responsibility, even if only for a few moments, and get back to the pure essence of you—your core—your Truth—your God-self—the you that is pure Love. And then as you leave your morning meditation, you can step into the day, your roles and responsibilities, your opportunities and challenges, from a place of personal Truth. Your soul has a chance to shine in its brilliance, giving Light to your path and to all those around you.

We play many roles in the course of a day, but at our essence, we are each only one person. Each one of us is a human manifestation of an aspect of God. Each one of us is the hands and feet of God—how God moves and breathes and plays and creates and heals in this world. When we wipe the slate clean, we step back to that God-self and remember who we are at the core. We can then play the roles of our lives with full awareness—in full consciousness of who we choose to be within those roles.

So wipe the slate clean—not just at the beginning of a new year or a new season, but every single day. Don’t let the “stuff” of life diminish the light of your soul. Wipe the slate clean and make each choice in truth and integrity, honoring your soul. And as you step out into the day, beam the Light of your God-self to the world!  Let your soul fly and your spirits will soar!

Copyright © 2003 Alan Seale

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