“Man stands in his own shadow and wonders why it’s dark.” ~Zen Proverb
I’m a sensitive, emotional person with a lot of empathy for others. I’ve recently found myself feeling torn apart by negativity and the world outside of me. I’m often bogged down by cyclical negativity, and I sometimes focus on others’ effects on me instead of my own effect on myself.
In my depressive cycling, I was always the victim. The more I thought about how terrible someone was toward me, the deeper I spiraled into a negative space that couldn’t be replenished.
Deep in despair, I called upon a beloved friend for some spiritual guidance.
He said, “Stand in your space. If you want to have the truest, most positive interactions with others and, in turn, be your most beautiful, authentic self, the work has to start with you.”
It wasn’t enough to cut someone negative out of my life, and it was counterproductive to complain about how they weighed me down. Instead, I needed to build the space I wanted and then stand in it.
Space is a culmination of you, your aura, and your energy.
It’s beyond just who you are in a tangible sense; it’s everything you are: your intentions, your mental processes, your actions, and your presence. We attract positivity by creating positivity.
After spending years trying to heal broken hearts and souls, I had allowed myself to be drained of positive energy and, in turn, I drained the energy of people who interacted with me.
So, was I doing more harm than good, despite my intentions?
In my efforts to heal a handful of people, I had internalized every piece of negativity and emoted my own. I had this mentality that you can let love flow freely from your heart and understand that it will always self-replenish. This is true. But energy is different, and I kept treating love and positive energy the same.
Being low on positive energy doesn’t mean you are low on love. You can still have a lot of love, yet feel drained and not manifest that love well.
For this reason, you need to protect your space, which encompasses your energy.
Energy is valuable, and it should flow freely toward places where it will do the most good. (more…)
