In week 4 of the Voyage to HEAL we confront our Vows of Armor. These are our beliefs that we have created to protect our souls. They are a protective shield to keep us from getting hurt. An example of a vow of armor is that “I must please people in order to be liked”, “I should put others in front of myself”, “Resting is for lazy people. I will do my part.”, “I will not let anyone down even if it means self-sacrificing”. Though noble, these beliefs put you last, others first, and indicate a feeling that you are not good enough to receive.
At no point would God ever put someone on this earth to suffer, feel less than anyone else, or neglect your needs. As a people pleaser, putting myself first and honoring my needs can be really heart challenging. I continually remind myself to do onto myself as I would do onto others. I know this is the reverse, but in the past, I had created this vow of armor to neglect my needs for others possibly because I wanted to be liked and accepted or possibly because deep down inside I did not feel good enough to honor my needs. Regardless, you can see the downfall of this belief.
So here I am with the most miserable chest cold I have had in a long time and it has knocked me down. Historically, I have worked through not feeling the best and kept going doing what needed to be done. This time, I have rested. I have actually taken days off work, which I do not do normally because I hate to let my clients down, but this time. I needed to rest.
So, then I rested and I have let go of my financial fears of not working. I have let go of my concern about not meeting my client’s needs. I have let go of pushing myself to keep going and I have rested.
May I continue to give myself permission to rest and may you, too.
Voyage to HEAL Weekly Exercises
Stretch: Rest
Exercise: Rest
Habitual Change: Rest
Perspective Enlightenment: I let go of my judgment of people who do take the time to rest. I will value the lesson that they are teaching me to honor my body and my needs rather than ridiculing them for being lazy.
Godspeed on your Voyage to HEAL.
Love,
Jocelyn