Be All That You Can Be

Over the last several decades, especially since the self-help movement of the seventies and eighties, much has been made about the need for self-actualization. Movies and books that popularize this pursuit are making millions, because so many people crave to fix their life situation. Simply put, self-actualization means, “to be all that you can be.” The problem with this ideology is that it places the primary emphasis on self-development, rather than self-knowledge. Self-knowledge means to “know” ourselves in the most fundamental way.

It is impossible to be all that we can be if we don’t know who we are. To know who we are, we need to know the deepest aspect of ourselves — Spirit. If we don’t begin here, then we risk the self becoming strengthened to the point where it mistakenly thinks it alone is Spirit, as is the case with much of the self-help movement. It’s difficult to see this distinction, because the same language is used in both authentic spiritual and self-improvement pursuits.

Now, I am all for being all that I can be. What would be the point in living if we can’t be the best human being possible? Yet, without a complete union with Spirit, the self always functions from a sense of lack. It stumbles through life trying to fulfill itself through endless tasks. This kind of self-actualization is similar to the cravings of an addict. Accomplishments are treated more like momentary highs, rather than true acts of self-fulfillment. Much like an addict, the self must keep busy achieving so he can keep the sense of lack or withdrawals at bay. The individual becomes an over achiever scampering onto the next great challenge—busy chasing the next high.

With this in mind, it is easy to see that the self is never fully satisfied, because it feels incomplete. No matter how many successes, whether they be the highest awards and accolades, history-making records, multiple college degrees, or even tons of money, the self-driven life is constantly in a ravenous search trying to compensate for its feelings of lack, insecurity, and fear. That’s its curse! Therefore, it is impossible to be all that we can be from the perspective of the self-driven life. We must make the transition to a spirit-driven life, a Shen Life.

Our spiritual nature is totally complete in and of itself; it never searches for fulfillment, because all is fulfilled through knowing itself. From this perspective, we are on the right track to being all that we can be. Once stabilized in Spirit, then we understand that the self is what Spirit uses to express itself. Our external lives become the offspring of this union. We are the creative source, the creative tool and the creative expression all at once—a holy trinity. Life is seen as a creative flow, and an endless expression of who we are. Truly, there is nothing to search for because everything is right here within our very own selves.

That’s the switch from a self-driven life to a spirit-driven life, a Shen Life.

Let’s reach for it!