Hope you are feeling the peace that you are! This post is about the spiritual practice of Being Authentic.
During my junior year of college, I took an advanced economics class. This class was taught by a professor from the local graduate school. During the third week of the semester, I had questions about some of the theories presented in class so I scheduled a time to meet with the professor.
Since the professor’s office was quite a hike from my campus, he graciously agreed to meet with me near our classroom. On the appointed day, we met in the middle of campus where there were benches. The professor got comfortable on one of the benches while I opened my notebook.
Before I asked my first question, the professor said, “Tell me what you plan to do after college.”
Unprepared for his request, I quickly shifted gears from asking questions to detailing my academic and professional goals, “Oh. I plan to go to grad school and earn my Ph.D. in economics. Then, I’d like to work with Congress to help improve the employment policies that affect people with disabilities.”
The professor listened closely. When I finished, he leaned back and said in a matter of fact tone of voice, “That’s very nice, but you can’t do that. There’s no way you can get your Ph.D. economics. You have such little use of your hands and economics Ph.D. students have to photocopy hundreds of pages from academic journals. There’s no way you could do that with your hands the way they are. Maybe you can go to law school, but a Ph.D. just isn’t going to happen for you.”
I respectfully listened to my professor. However, I was surprised that this person, who had known me for all of three weeks, felt so confident in his assessment of what was possible for me. Despite his confidence, I gave no credence to his belief. After all, I was meeting with him to better understand my class notes, not to receive unsolicited career advice from someone who had just met me.
As he went on explaining all the reasons that the cerebral palsy I live with would prevent me from earning a Ph.D., I could hear my Aunt Michelle in my head saying, “Pay him no mind. His elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor,” which is to say that while this professor knew a lot, he didn’t know everything.
So, once he finished explaining why I couldn’t earn a Ph.D., I politely asked, “Would it be ok to go over my class notes now?”
Over the course of the semester, I did my work, answered questions in class and was an engaged and active class member. A few weeks before the end of the semester, the professor told us that we had to do a group project and present our work to the class during the last week of the semester. I formed a group with a friend of mine and one of her friends.
During our first group meeting, my group decided to do our project on the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA). Over the next few weeks, we worked hard to make sure that our presentation was the best it could be.
When the time came for my group to present our work in class, I had so much fun sharing our findings and using the theories we had learned throughout the semester to analyze various aspects of the ADA. Once we finished our presentation, we high-fived each other because we knew we had done brilliantly!
After class was finished, I piled all of my belongings onto my wheelchair tray and put on my headphones. I drove my power wheelchair out of the classroom and down the walkway, when I faintly heard “Allison! Allison! ALLISON!!!”
I stopped driving forward and turned around to see the professor running after me. I quickly drove back towards the classroom to meet him halfway.
“Allison, I’ve got to shake your hand,” he said as he reached towards my hand, “that was graduate level work. You did graduate-level work in there!”
I smiled and said, “Thank you.”
“Allison, you have GOT to go on and get your Ph.D. in economics. Promise me you will.”
“I will, professor.”
When my professor offered me career advice at the beginning of the semester, I realized that he was doing his best to counsel me according to his past experiences and his understanding of the world. I also knew that he had never met someone quite like me. So, instead of becoming angry at him or doubting my own abilities, I chose to remain authentic and allow my spirit to shine through me throughout the semester. I understood that I didn’t need to try to change his mind during our initial meeting.
The most important tasks for me to do were to remember the truth of who I am and allow that truth, which is the Divine, to shine through everything I do. Yes, I have reduced use of my hands, but our calling in life goes far deeper than what our bodies may or may not do. As long as you live from the light of who you are, the Universe, the Divine, Love itself will rise up to provide anything you need to fulfill your divinely-appointed mission.
Love, blessings and purple,
Allison
Try incorporating this exercise into your week. If you need modifications to the practice, scroll down to the section titled Access Notes.
Affirmation
Everyday this week (or as many times as you can), hop in front of a mirror or an app that reflects your image back to you. Say the following affirmation three times in the morning(or three times at night) while looking into your eyes:
“I am Love! I choose to be who I was created to be!”
The following modifications are intended to create equal access to the spiritual practice above. These modifications are somewhat general to be as useful as possible to as many people as possible. Please feel free to further tweak the exercise as needed so that you can participate as fully as possible while honoring your body’s needs.
1. If you are blind or have low vision, memorize the affirmation or have the affirmation accessible to you. Close your eyes. Place both of your hands over your heart as you say the affirmations aloud.
2. If you are d/Deaf or hard of hearing and communicate via sign language, feel free to sign the affirmation as you look into your eyes.
3. If you are Deafblind and communicate via sign language, memorize the affirmation or have the sentences handy as you do the exercise. Close your eyes and place your hands over your heart. Take three slow, deep breaths. Sign the affirmation three times. Place both hands over your heart and take three more deep breaths.
4. If you are Deafblind and communicate via speaking orally, memorize the affirmation or have the sentences handy to read. Close your eyes. Place both hands over your heart. Say each sentence.
5. If you are non-verbal, nonspeaking or minimally verbal, here are two ways to modify this exercise. If you’re unsure of which method to try, try both and determine which one feels better to you.
a. Instead of verbally saying the sentences, say the affirmation in your mind while you looking into your eyes.
b. Either have your communication device or another person speak the affirmation while you look at your reflection. If you have another person speak the affirmations, ask the person to say your name instead of saying the pronoun ‘I’.
6. If you can speak but saying the affirmation three times is not possible, say the affirmation as many times as is healthy for you.
