I Have Given Everything All of the Meaning It Has (P.S. It Doesn’t Mean Anything) | ACIM Lesson 2

A few years ago, I had the experience of moving residences twice in just over a year. Not only that, but since both times my new home was not available for a month, my possessions went off to live in storage for awhile and I spent the interim staying with various peeps. So technically, I moved four times in about 13 months. (My friend Amy said I was a professional mover.)

I was never so conscious of how much f*ing stuff I had until I had to pack it all up in boxes, unpack it, figure out where it was all going to go – and then pack it all back up again, unpack it, and figure out where it was all going to go again.

But from the forgiveness opportunities that presented themselves while moving my worldly ass around like it was my job, I unearthed a really powerful insight: how similar our attachment to our possessions is to our attachment to our beliefs.

In fact, our possessions are actually just representations of our beliefs.

That entire endeavor inspired me to give a lot of consideration to A Course in Miracles Workbook lesson 2,

“I have given everything I see all the meaning that it has for me.” W-pI.2

So what exactly does it all mean?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not dissing my stuff, or the idea of having it. I love my stuff. There are things with sentimental value, beautiful gifts people have given me, the thing I bought from that one time when I traveled to somewhere with whomever, and every time I see it I’m reminded of them and the fun we had.

There are things that belonged to those I love who are no longer in the world, and things that remind me of the me I once was. There are fancy things I don’t know if I will ever wear again – but I want to, so I keep them.

There are souvenirs from past relationships, a 12,000- pound trunk full of family photos and journals (which I hope I have enough of a heads-up to burn before I leave up out this world!), and a drill and some tools that I feel a little bit badass about owning.

I don’t feel guilty about my possessions or shame myself for having them. They are the ephemera of a life. These things, in large part, represent aspects of my earthly identity. But I have given them all of the meaning they have for me. Outside of my mind’s interpretation they don’t mean anything.

This experience of interacting with each of my things allowed me to see the meaning of them differently. Having wrapped them up and put them away for a month or two and lived without them – then holding them in my hands again and looking at them with fresh eyes, I was able to observe them with a little more discernment.

I noticed that not everything was going to work in the new space. Some things I had to let go of – I just didn’t have need of them any longer. They didn’t feel right, no longer fit, or weren’t aligned with who I had become.

Some things were tired, or worn, and when I asked myself why I was keeping them the answer felt like scarcity, or guilt, or obligation, all of which are just forms of fear.

Well, f-that.

I realized what a replication this is of exactly what happens with our emotional baggage – our thoughts and beliefs.

It comes time to move into the dwelling place of a new experience – a relationship, a job, an adventure… and here we go dragging all of our crap into it. We show up with the boxes and bins and bags of our histories – emphasis on the stories – all of which we gave all the meaning it has for us.

And we identify with the meaning and the stories way more strongly than the actual possessions.

So often in getting ready to bust a move out of an old situation, we don’t consciously sort through our expectations and thought patterns, and the underlying beliefs that they are based on, before packing them up and moving into a new one.

We don’t look at them and consider what is worth holding onto or not and why. They’re like the boxes in the attic and basement that contain God knows what – yet we still move them from place to place without looking to see what’s inside. (Or am I the only one who has done that?)

When I moved from the place I lived in for 11 years, I had to experience a shift in my mindset. I was moving from a town I had resided in for 19 years to a whole different state. I really wanted to make that change, but in order to do it I had to be willing to leave some baggage filled with self-limiting beliefs on the curb.

As fast as I was working to release that stuff, however, my ego mind was busy dragging all of my sh*t out of the trash and trying to recycle it back into my mind at about the same pace. The inner monologue was the same kind we have when we are sorting through our possessions:

“Should I let this go? But it’s part of me. I’ve had it forever. What if I need it at some point in the future? Who will I be without it? This has been with me for so long. I’m afraid I am letting go of a part of myself. What if it’s the only one like it in the Universe and I can’t ever find a replacement?”

Except that instead of it being that hot dress I rocked 15 years ago but am never going to fit back into and feel bad when I happen across it, or that 25 year-old sofa that served me well for a long time but has earned it’s retirement for the love of God; or the thing someone I love gave me but it’s not right for me and I felt too guilty to let it go – what I was hoarding were self-limiting beliefs, so that I would have to stay in the same place.

As I examined and repurposed and recycled my stuff, I did the same with a lot of unhelpful thought patterns.

Playing small. Believing in limitation. Doubting my ability. Thinking I had nothing to say, or that I would fail.

In order to move into a more expanded place I had to pack up a lot of those ideas and let them go so that I could remember that God created me – and all of my bros – to play BIG as an extension of His perfect Love. Eternally unlimited, with God-given abilities. A channel for His words to be spoken through me, which in itself guarantees that I will not fail.

Here are some of the hidden beliefs I have unpacked and given to “Godwill” as I like to think of it:

• I can’t go back to school, earn a Master’s degree, and change careers in my 40s.
• I can’t do what I love and have the life that I desire.
• I’m not an advanced enough student to teach A Course in Miracles.
• I can’t spend this much money on my living space
• I can’t live alone and enjoy it.
• I won’t be successful at being self-employed.
• I will never be financially responsible.
• I can’t have the body I want at my age
• I am not a good enough writer to blog.
• I am not enough of an expert to be a transformational coach.
• I can’t have an amazing loving partnership without sharing a home
• I can’t be too visible.
• Who am I to shine?
• Who do I think I am?

Once I agreed to let go of them, all of these beliefs that never fit me in the first place were miraculously transformed and replaced by the Truth – and my life looks and feels very different today.

When I think about all of the ego-belief baggage I unpacked and sent to that big recycling center in the sky – and what amazing opportunities, abundance, experiences, and adventures have flowed in to fill that space – I can see the absolute necessity of clearing. I was being asked to show up in a bigger way – in a house, in my own life, and in the world, but I had to make room for it.

There was both a powerful call toward and a great deal of resistance pulling me back from expanding. I had to give myself permission to be in the place I really desired to live in, not the one I kept trying to convince myself I should accept. This applied not only to my material home, but to my state of mind.

In the experience of rearranging where I wanted my possessions to be, I was shown where Spirit wanted me to be. As I saw where my things would serve me best, I was guided to where I will best serve. My releasing of what no longer held value for me created the space for what is precious and priceless to rush on in.

I Have Given Everything All of the Meaning It Has (P.S. It Doesn’t Mean Anything) | ACIM Lesson 2

So, whatcha gonna do with all that junk in your trunk? What beliefs are hidden away in your attic and basement that are keeping you stuck?

What have you been unwilling to unpack? What are you ready to look at, to see differently, to let go of?

You have given all of it all the meaning it has for you.

If you want some help with illuminating the contents of what is stored your mind, consider booking a Coaching Discovery call with me.
In the process of unearthing and discerning what to let go of and what to keep, you gain clarity about where you want to go and how to get there.

Thank you so much for living in the ‘Hood of infinite Love with me and being the light that illuminated my path to it. You are one of my treasures, in your place of honor in the home of my heart.

I love you.

Kelly

Kelly Russell, The Rock Your Joy Coach

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