Have you ever had a hard time figuring out which choice was an ego-based choice and which choice was a soul-centered choice?
When a person is just beginning to awaken to themselves as a soul-level learner in a body, discerning the difference between temptation and the soul’s will can be a tricky thing.
Some tips to consider: temptation will usually bring only short-term relief to whatever the issue is at hand, and will derail you from heading in the direction you really want to go. Temptation will almost always be urging you to settle for something less than what you really want. Temptation will play on your fears. Temptation will guide you to postpone or avoid taking action toward fulfilling your deepest goals and dreams, which always bring you more pain and suffering. Temptation will be sly, slick and cunning, often sounding totally reasonable and practical. Temptation will always be fear-based, even if no actual fear-energy seems to be present.
The will of your soul, on the other hand, will be gently guiding you upward. Your soul’s voice will sound calm, rational and neutral – very matter-of-fact and authentic. Your soul’s voice will be asking you to take the higher road, which does not always seem like the easy way but will be the only way that will take you in the direction that you know you need to go in order to achieve your dreams. Your soul’s voice will be asking you to take action, complete something, face something, realize something, stand up inside of yourself – in short, your soul’s voice will be asking you to do the very thing you most fear doing. The voice of the will of your soul comes from Loving, and always has your best interests at heart, no matter what it may be asking you to do. When you listen to this part of yourself and act on-course with the will of your soul, you will feel wonderful inside… sometimes even triumphant.
Have you ever given in to the voice of temptation? I hope you were honest with yourself and said ‘heck yes’, because I’ve never met anyone who hasn’t. In fact, I’ve never met anyone who hasn’t hundreds and hundreds of times! If you are human, you will continuously experience the temptation to settle for less than what you really want. You will be enticed to stay small, safe, secure and comfortable out of fear, when, in fact, your soul is urging you to play it big, bold, loud and expansive.
Let’s look at some typical examples of the temptations that many people face: A person who is quitting an addiction may be faced daily with hearing in their own mind, “You know you want that drink/cigarette/drug right now.” A person who is attempting to get into better shape may hear, “Go ahead, eat it! It will taste great and you’ll feel much better. Come on, what harm can one doughnut do?!” The woman recovering from abusive relationships may hear, “He’s a little insensitive – so what? You can’t expect perfection, and would you rather end up alone?” The job-seeker may get a less-than-ideal job offer and hear, “So what if it’s not what you really want. You’ll never get a better offer than this. You need this security right now…” You get the picture.
The person addicted to sex will be faced with more sex, the person addicted to gambling with more chances to roll the dice, the debtor with the opportunity to go deeper into debt, the workaholic with more opportunities for work, the codependent with more people to help, the sugar addict with a box full of chocolates, and so on – all for the purpose of reminding us that temptation needs to be denied under the power of our own free will in order to overcome any obstacle and pass the test of our soul’s current curriculum.
Understand that your ego-based personality will be freaking out at the up-leveling you are ready to take, and will do everything in its power to keep you small, safe and comfortable at whatever frequency your current level of energy or comfort zone resides. You must make the choice to change in order for your life to begin to change for the better!
And ~ here’s the part about temptation that took me awhile to grasp but finally gave me the internal resolve to begin to make better choices: if you repeatedly say ‘yes’ to the tray of temptation, the server will pile on more and more unhealthy treats and begin to come by more often.
Soon the cigarette smoker will go from smoking one pack a day to two… or three. The doughnut-eater will be faced with a new secretary who brings in two dozen doughnuts every morning. The abused woman’s new boyfriend will begin to criticize, then scream, then hit. And the kid who began smoking pot last year will get introduced to ecstasy, then cocaine, then heroine…
Have you ever had the tray of temptation lure you to sink lower, then lower… then even lower?
It was only after I had sunk pretty low myself that I was able to muster the strength to say ‘No way!’ to settling for what was on that platter of temptation.
You always have the power to say ‘No’ to your ego-based temptations. It is just a matter of calling upon your freedom to choose. Engage the authentic power of your free will! Choose to get committed to your own highest good. Say, “I have the power to say ‘no’ to my ego-based voice of temptation and ‘yes’ to the voice of my soul.”
Many Blessings of Joy and Vibrant Freedom
Action Step ~ Claim your resolve to say ‘No’ to ego-based temptations and say ‘Yes’ to your soul, knowing that your soul’s voice will always have your highest good in mind. Declaration: “Acting on my ego-based urging will always bring me suffering; acting on my soul-based urging will always bring me into greater alignment with Loving. I now choose to say ‘No’ to temptation and follow the voice of my soul, in my highest and greatest good.”
Additional Support: Listen to this 8-minute closed-eye process on saying ‘no’ to the voice of temptation and ‘yes’ to the voice of your soul; please refrain from driving while listening.