Self-Worth

Last week I was invited to share some thoughts on how to develop self-respect. When I just received the notice, The first thing came into my mind was ‘what is the reason for not having self-respect?’ I think it is because we do not see our self-worth. Why do we not see our self-worth? This is because we see people a lot. What is wrong in seeing people? When we see people, we start comparing ourselves to them.

We start thinking ‘They are better than me. They are more fortunate. They are more successful. They are more experienced. They know better than me.’ What do we then feel when we have these thoughts? We start feeling insecure. If we sustain these thoughts by keeping these on and on and on in our head, we develop inferiority. Very often we don’t realize that we are nurturing these thoughts until we notice ourself feeling very low and small. This inferiority blinds you from seeing your self-worth.

Or you may start creating thoughts like ‘I am better. I am more fortunate. I am more successful.’ You develop superiority. For most people it doesn’t happen more frequently than the inferior one.

Comparing yourself to other people will always lead you to inferiority or superiority. You experience yourself emotionally in an oscillation between high and low. You are not comfortable to be in this oscillation. It doesn’t serve you inner stability.

Some call it ego. Ego is always false. It is just an illusion.To feel inferior or superior is an illusion. It is never permanent. Know this ego in you. Try to notice yourself when you start developing this. Be there for the sake of your inner stability. Because it is so destructive to your spirit (your self). It is very manipulative. It will never allow you to be able to see your self-worth. Your enemy for attaining your self-worth is not out there. It is right here, inside your head. Very subtle. Become the true warrior and conquer this enemy.

A solo battle

This is a true story of my colleague on how he dealt with covid. It was Christmas Eve, last year. He had made a plan for a family gathering on that night. A few days before he got himself tested for covid and the result was only received on Dec 24th. He decided to have everyone in the house to do the rapid test with the quickest result. Four people of his family members got tested. They had to cancel the plan for the family gathering and change into a plan for a self quarantine. If the four members of the family would be positive covid, then they would stay in the house for their self quarantine. But if the rest of the family members were negative covid, then he would decide to leave the house and find a place for his self quarantine.

This is a solo battle!

The results of the test were only received late in the evening via email. They were all negative covid.  So he decided to leave the house that night. He packed his stuff in a luggage and drove himself to find a hotel for the quarantine.  He was having no symptom of covid at that time. Only after mid night he checked in into a hotel. He managed everything by himself during the quarantine. After a few days in the hotel, he experienced himself to have some covid symptoms. He started to consider to go to hospital. And he ended up being hospitalized as a covid patient for about two weeks. He did it all alone. He had to go through his critical period in the hospital all alone. No family member could visit him. No colleague nor friend could visit him. This is covid. It is different. A solo battle! It takes so much strength to become the winner in this battle physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

I really appreciate how he managed himself. I think it was so heroic. He won the battle.

Meditation for Healing the Heart

I make this time to revisit my heart, the spirit inside. It has been sitting there for such a long time. I have been very busy listening the noise of my ego in my head. I have been neglecting myself. I have started believing what my ego said to me and it has completely made my heart weak and broken.

Listen to your heart!

I make this time to sit with my true self, and listen. I open my heart. I feel very confortable.

It speaks very gently to me: “You are very special. You are loveable. You are here to share your love. Open your heart and express your love. Let the energy flow from the inside out”

It is so empowering and encouraging.

I can feel the energy of love fills my heart. I feel myself empowered.

Now I invite the Greatest Healer to fill my heart with His healing energy. I keep my heart open for His pure loving energy. His love is unconditional. His love is permanent and so uplifting. He has a very loving heart to everybody. I can trust Him. I have nothing to hide from Him. I let Him help me in this healing process. I keep His company with me.  

The feeling becomes stronger and stronger. This genuine love puts all the pieces of my heart together. It heals the wounds and the scars. My heart become whole again.

How to protect your heart from getting hurt

What do you expect from a relationship? There is an expectation in almost all relationships we have. We might not be aware of it until our heart gets hurt.

How to protect your heart and make it remain strong and safe?

What do we do then? We stay away from those who have hurt our hearts. This is the easiest way, not necessarily the right way nor effective way. We stay away physically, though mentally we might still think about it. We still carry this hurt in our mind. Sometimes we also speak about it to people. Everytime we are giving our attention (energy) to it, the hurt becomes stronger. We sustain the hurt through this way.

The weak one will do that. But the courageous one will work on the inside. They will realize the expection they have from the relationship that they thought has given that hurt, and start working on it. It needs courage. To deal with the self always needs more courage. Many people are not ready to see themselves being fragile and weak inside. But if you choose this way, you will become so strong inside. Your heart is strong and protected. And you will stop blaming anyone or situation to be the reason for your hurt. Because it is always the expectation!

Dealing with your empty heart

Can a heart become empty? Sure. Have you experienced your heart empty? How did you feel it? You did not like it, did you?

An empty heart is constantly craving for love from people.

When my heart is empty, I will expect someone to fill it with love. I am craving for love constantly until my heart is full. Love is the energy that is needed by the heart. The energy to live. Noone can live without this energy. And when someone gives me love, because my heart is empty, I will become selfish with that love. All I can think is that ‘You are loving me. You are supporting me. You are caring for me.’ At the same time I am creating fear in my heart. Fear of losing the person who gives me love, the source of my love. When there is fear, love won’t exist. Because love exists in the absence of fear. Both can not exist at the same time.

If you want to free yourself from craving for love from people, what you need to do is to deal with your empty heart. Make it full with love. Do you know how to make your heart full? You heart has the capacity to generate love. So do it. Learn this skill to generate love from within and make your heart full with love till stop craving for love. You will stop expecting love from anyone. You won’t create a dependent love on someone. You will keep giving love instead and stop creating fear.

Having an open and big heart

If someone asks you what you want to have for your heart, what would be your answer?

The other day I was sharing with a friend that I wanted to have an open and big heart. A heart that can love everybody. A heart that can accommodate everybody. A heart that will exclude or reject nobody. Everybody is included. Each one can experience a sense of belonging. This is the heart that can bring everybody close to each other where each one feels secured and safe. A heart that is whole.

Do you think it is possible?

Each one’s heart might have been broken into pieces these days. It is not whole any more. It might also have a lot of wounds and also scares. Somebody might be holding a little piece of his heart and the other is holding another little piece. Those two little pieces can not accomodate each other. You can not share your heart if it is broken into pieces. It is too small to share. A broken heart is a small and very limited heart. There is disunity when each one’s heart is broken.

Make your heart whole again and start loving everybody.

I said to him that I have made this thought into a ‘must have’ menu in my meditation everyday. I visualize people of the whole world as one big family. We belong to One. I invite them to sit in my open and big heart.

Vibe High!

I remember I was meeting with a friend. We were sitting in a coffee shop. It happened before the pandemic. Both of us are interested in journaling. We were sharing about how we were doing our journaling. When I was talking suddenly she stopped me and said to me “Tini, I think you have a very good energy.” I realize that whenever I am talking about journaling, I always speak with a great interest.  Because I am so passionate about it. When there is passion, there is love, happiness and enthusiasm. This generates energy. People can feel this energy.

Each one of us vibrates energy to the atmosphere every moment, whether we are speaking or not.  Each one of us contributes to the atmosphere. Thought is energy. Our mind never stops generating thoughts. Our being (consciousness) is constantly generating this energy to the atmosphere. This vibration creates frequency. The higher the consciousness, the higher the frequency that is created. What thoughts have high frequency? Thought of peace, happiness, love etc. What thoughts have low vibration? Thought of regret, guilt, anger, blame, fear, shame etc.

What thoughts and vibrations are created around the world collectively for the past one year? probably of worries, of uncertainties, of fear. The world now needs high vibration. Vibe so high!

Self-Love

I think everyone of us has a moment in life when we are down. We feel ourselves in a low state (mental state). You don’t want to let yourself in that low state forever, do you?

What do you do when you are down? How can you make yourself up again? How will you give yourself an encouragment or an energy booster? You can not always find someone to cheer you up, to uplift you. In that situation, you need to find a way to bring your state high.

It is not selfish. It is necessary!

Make time for yourself and being with yourself. Listen to your heart. Understand the thoughts you keep in your mind that make you feel what you are feeling (feeling low). Then speak to yourself genuinely. Encourage yourself. This is also called a self-affirmation. We need to do this.

Then a friend said “Is it not like sabotaging yourself by telling you are good when in fact you know you are not good?”

If you are now feeling low, check your thoughts. What kind of thoughts have you been keeping in your mind? Be honest in this. This is an internal check. Only you can do it. No one else can do it for you or help you. Not your spouse nor your “soul mate”. This is an individual inner work. To do an honest checking means you need to make time just to be with yourself. Can you do this?

If you are honest enough, you might realize that these are the noise that keep playing in your head.
“You are not good enough.
“You are weak.”
“You are unlovable.”
“No one likes you.”
These thoughts have sabotaged you and made you BELIEVE it. You feel what you believe. That low state doesn’t come suddenly. It takes time.

Now do the same.
Keep telling yourself that you are good enough.
You are worthed.
You are lovable.
You are special.
Make yourself believe what you are telling to yourself.
I know it also takes time. But if you understand that this is the way to bring yourself up again, will you not do this?

How to meditate

Meditation is a self-talk. Noone but you involve in this. You need to do it alone. I understand that many people find it uncomfortable to have a self-talk. My friends learned meditation but they did not continue this because they do not enjoy having a self-talk.

Meditation is a practice for the mind

How to talk to yourself? A friend asked me this question.
You can’t talk to yourself until the self is ready to listen. The self is not ready to listen due to the noise in the mind. So you need to make the mind calm first. Observe what is going on in the mind. Just observe. Put yourself as a detached observer. If you can put yourself as a detached observer for quite a while, then you will notice that your mind starts to calm down. Only then you can start talking.

The following is an example of meditation commentary to help you to have a self-talk. This is not a mantra. Meditation is not not a religious practice, so you can free yourself to create your own, in your own language.

Meditation commentary – Body and Soul
I remind myself that I am not just this physical body. Inside this body there is the true me. A pure spirit. I am the spirit living in this body. I am light. I am subtle. I am the energy inside this body. I am eternal. I am not growing older, I will never die. A spirit never dies.

This body is the vehicle for the soul. I am the soul, driving this body. I take the control of the body. I am aware of my mind and what it creates. I am aware of every thought that I create. I listen to my mind. I listen to myself. I am aware the 3 personalities within me. I am aware that they keep speaking. I listen. I observe.

I make this time to listen to myself. I listen to the voice in my head. The voice of the 3 personalities in me.
I make this time to see myself inside.
I make this time for myself.
I take care of myself.

Easy steps to quiet your mind

Meditation is an art to deal with the noise of the self in your own head. Can you hear the constant noise inside your head? Or do you find it easy to make it quiet? A friend said to me that it is very hard to make the mind quiet. Who makes that noise? You have the 3 personalities inside you, “the inferior I”, “the superior I” and “the real I.” For many people it is their “inferior I” that makes noise more than the other two personalities. You might hear the voices like “I am not good enough.” “I am not valued.” ”I am excluded.”  This is the noise made by the “inferior I”. You might hear voice like “I know better.” “I am more experienced.” “They should listen to me.” Which voice do you listen the most?  And the “the real I” ussually speak the least. “the real I” always speaks the uplifting voice.

The 3 personalities

You need to deal with those 3 personalities in your head to make the mind quiet. How to deal with it? Observe, listen and don’t judge. This is the easy steps to start a mediation:
1. Find a place to sit where you would not get distracted during your meditation session.
2. Sit comfortably and relaxed.
3. Let your eyes open
4. Turn your attention within (inside your forehead). It is where the mind is located.
Observe what is going on.
5. Acknowledge the noise. Acknowledge which personality is speaking or creating that noise.
6. Let them speak.
7. Keep observing, keep listening.
8. Don’t judge.

If you keep observing and not judging, ussually they will become quiet. Only then you can let “the real I” speak any thought that elevates you like “I am great.” Let the intellect listen that thought and churn it. To churn it means to think it more deeply. Bring your awareness to it. The heart will very soon generate a feeling of greatness. You feel what you think. Choose to think elevated thoughts and you will generate elevated feelings.

Mediation is a powerful way to take your energy back – emotional, mental and spiritual energy. You might need to practice this everyday and make it into your self-care routine.