May I, I am.

If you have studied any Self Help modality for healing or self compassion, inevitably “how to make an affirmation” will come up. How we direct the mind is important, and the intent behind an affirmation is to give the mind a direction in the affirmative before something has taken shape, a type of “stating what we want the pregnancy to look like”. Because of this, we make affirmations in the form of the present:  “I am…fill in the blank”.

Yet there are times when we are being called to something, and we have to recognize the pitfalls of the mind and ego. The ego with its self centered interests lodged in keeping the personality safe, will take an extraordinary amount of energy to try to make energy go in the direction “we want” or “we prefer”. We may have hit a stream of illnesses, accidents, one thing after another, and no matter how much we affirm, something is not quite right. Sometimes this happens before we can clear the slate to get to what we are creating. And sometimes, something larger is saying we are needed for something that is not within our ability to see at the moment.

This is why having a spiritual practice is important, a moment of presence and pause…and with that periodic self reflection, or a community with which to reflect with and get feedback from to help us discern. Very very few on the planet are able to discern when the mind and ego are over-ruling the direction of the over arching “Spirit” asking for something else. This is why there are healers, religions, therapists, coaches, and anyone engaged with helping others to find their direction.

Which is also why the metta practice is so important and the practice of “May I” vs “I am”. It is always good to have an “I am” and to put in as an attachment, “in harmony with God, or the Greater Good, or if “it serves the Higher Good”. But during transitions, and we are always going through transitions, it is also important at times to say “May I”, to allow for the possibilities of insight and wisdom to come outside of the context of the mind, vanity, and the ego.

May I is the prayer form of the affirmation I am.

By having “May I”, we are allowing the possibilities of the larger Source come to help so that we don’t have the burden of carrying everything alone. Our ego, vanity, and common collective want us to believe we are doing things alone. We are not. Our actions, thoughts, and affirmations, create a ripple just like the migratory butterfly wing beat across the wind streams of the world. By including “May I” with the metta practice, we relieve ourselves of a tremendous burden of having to “know” all the time. We invite humbleness the antidote to vanity, vulnerability the antidote to arrogance, and inner kindness, the antidote to disconnection and loneliness. With May I and I am, together manifestation eases and all possibilities of Grace emerge.

May you, may I be well and happy.

-Rita Naomi