The Power of I AM

One of ego's favorite catchphrases is “I told you so.”

“I told you it wouldn't work.”

“I told you, you'd fail.”

“I told you, you'd be sorry.”

“I told you it was pointless.”

The ego's sole reason for existence is to validate its existence and there is no better a way to do so than to make you invalidate your own power. How many of us feel guilty then feel guilty for feeling guilty? How many of us react negatively towards a person or event and then hate ourselves for our negativity?

One internal voice is telling us how we feel while another more subtle voice is telling us how wrong we are for our feelings. Which one is the voice of truth? Because they battle with each other in opposition, we assume that one must be right and the other wrong. On the one hand, we recognize our negative feeling as negativity and we know that pure spirit doesn't foster negativity. So we search our soul to weed out the seed of negativity. On the other hand, our feelings are the voice of our soul and it doesn't lie. So we dig ever deeper to try to understand the source of the negativity and we try to encourage its expression.

But, there remains the other voice quietly, or not so quietly, chiding us for feeling any negativity at all. So we listen to that voice because we know negativity doesn't foster spiritual growth. But, we question and doubt that subtle voice because it seeks to invalidate our feelings which we cannot deny.

We dig ever deeper and ever harder into our souls for the right voice, growing ever more confused and frustrated and desperate for an answer. And all the while, another voice, relentless in its persistence says, “I told you so...I told you that you'd never sort things out. I told you that you'd never understand spirituality. I told you that you'd fail because you're not good enough to catch on.”

Could it be that none of these voices are the voices of truth? All these voices have one thing in common. They seek to invalidate who you are. They seek to rob you of your empowerment of Being. They seek to keep you from knowing the only thing that ego never wants you to know: the power of I AM.

I AM is the most powerful statement you can make about yourself. Nothing can invalidate it. Any attempt by yourself or anyone else to invalidate the I AM of Being must first recognize and accept that it exists in order to invalidate it. Those who say “I don't believe in [fill in the blank] ” are, in essence, recognizing the existence of it to not believe in.

So, you take a deep breath and say “I AM” and you begin to feel empowered until you ask yourself, “What am I?” Once again, ego raises its voice and insists that you label your Beingness as something. The list is long, but whatever label you give yourself, there is an antithesis to it. Labels do nothing but define and limit growth. Even if we label something as “good,” we deny freedom to whatever we're labeling to express itself as anything greater or other than what we perceive as “good.” The same is true for any label we apply. When ego insists that we label ourselves, it is demanding that we limit ourselves.

How do we stop the seemingly endless cycle of feeling “bad” then feeling “bad” about feeling “bad?” Why do we choose to feel badly in the first place? Why do we choose misery (in the forms of anger, jealousy, hatred, remorse, bitterness, despair, resentment, etc.)? Why do we choose misery when it feels so miserable? If we're so anxious to rid ourselves of it, why can't we let go of it?

Perhaps it isn't the misery (in any of its forms) that we're attached to. We're simply attached to feeling, regardless of what the feeling is. We're attached to the dramas of our lives more than to the scripts themselves. Without a low, how can we experience a high? Without displeasure, how can we identify pleasure? Sadly, for so many, the drama of the misery is the only thing that makes them feel alive. When you remove everything that makes you feel alive, what remains?

There remains Peace, Love, and Joy. They're not emotions. They are the freedom to accept yourself in whatever manner you choose to express yourself; and full acceptance can only be done through forgiveness. Forgiveness is not excusing or justifying or validating your feelings. Forgiveness is simply feeling with Love what you once felt with pain. When you love yourself, you remove your self-imposed labels of limitation. You detach from your dramas of misery. You silence the voices of condemnation. You discover your own I AM of Being. Overcoming ego doesn't have to mean getting rid of it.

Overcoming ego can be recognizing it as your servant rather than your master.