Helping People on Their Spiritual Path
Is it ego or guidance?
Each of Has a Path.
In my last post I wrote about how I found inner peace through ending illusions, releasing attachments, and surrendering expectations. I also wrote about how I was still processing what that meant in my life.
Saturday morning, I woke up to new awareness of another impact of that inner work. One that has been part of my spiritual for a while. And one that was softened by the inner work that I’ve done.
Each of us has a life path that we experience in our own way. Without pressure or judgement by others. Our family, our friends, our loved ones, all of us have a path of our own. We must allow the people in our lives to have their own life experiences.
Ego or Guidance?
On this blog I write about spirituality. I describe my own spiritual experiences. How I moved through the inner work and the things that I did to move forward on my spiritual path. And all the amazing mystical experiences I’ve had. I get to share all aspects of my spiritual awakening.
In my personal life, I had the urge to help people on their spiritual path. It wasn’t always welcomed, as you can imagine. And I found myself feeling frustrated. I knew that it was an area that needed work. When I investigated it, the cause was clear.
My ego wanted to help people with their spiritual paths. I created stories, illusions, in my mind about what their lives could be. And then I noticed the attachment to that story and the expectations that my ego had for them.
All of it was my own ego and had nothing to do with the person’s own life and spiritual path. I wanted to help shape people rather than allow them to have their own experiences. It was something that I knew I needed to change.
I set the intention to heal from it. And when I moved through healing from illusions, attachments, and expectations, it seemed to have been part of the process. But I’m not perfect, nor am I perfectly healed. I still do the work.
When I find myself wanting to say something from ego rather than from my guidance, I stop myself. And I remind myself gently that they are having their own experience. They are exactly where they are meant to be and are experiencing exactly what they are meant to. Because we all are.
We are all on our own path and are having the spiritual experiences that we are meant to. We are here to have experiences that are karmic and destined. The ones that we co-created with spirit. Each of our paths is exactly what it is meant to be and is in Divine timing.
When we are guided to help someone, we can. Because guidance means that Spirit has aligned us with someone in our path who needs the help we can give. Guidance is the only reason to insert ourselves into someone else’s spiritual journey.
When it is our ego wanting to help, that’s a red flag. Our ego is helping no one but itself. Our ego isn’t guidance. It is just a part of our wounding or thought process that says we are the one to help.
The only exception that I can think of is if we are invited to help that person. If they ask for our wisdom or our guidance, we can then provide it. But even then, I feel uncomfortable with that.
In a situation where we are asked for help, there is still an opportunity for our ego to insert itself. It is likely that we are answering from our own shadow instead of our inner Divinity. But that’s where our wisdom can take over and guide us.
Asking Questions.
I have a strategy for giving guidance. One that is born from experience and training. It was one that I learned during my spiritual path and while I was learning to coach.
When I’m asked for guidance, I ask more questions than give advice or statements of fact. Advice is easy, anyone can give advice. In my experience, we learn more by looking inward. And that happens when we are asked questions.
Questions allow us to think and feel for ourselves. Questions help us see things from another perspective. Questions allow us to look within and find our own answers.
All of that is part of our spiritual awakening process and spiritual path. One part. The other part is creating a relationship with Spirit and co-creating our spiritual path.
Our spiritual journey is ours. It is unique to our lived experiences and our Divine life path, our soul’s purposes, and our personal goals. Each of our paths is unique.
And with that in mind, we must tread lightly when advising others on their spiritual path and their experiences. Inserting our ego or judgement is usually not the right path to take.
Coaching and Consulting Fail.
Early in my spiritual awakening, I wanted to become a coach. I trained as a coach and continued to train in meditation and mindfulness. Eventually I wanted to become a spiritual consultant.
Looking through my website you can still see remnants of that goal. Most of that was stopped by my cancer diagnosis in 2021. Then I tried to revive it when I felt ready to return to work.
But the clarity I found on Saturday morning showed me why my attempts at spiritual coaching or consulting failed. It wasn’t guided. It came from ego. And a desire to monetize my spiritual experience.
It was too early in my spiritual awakening to know the difference between guidance and ego. I was what some call “a newborn”. Someone so new on their path they aren’t ready to guide others.
I knew there was a reason why my spiritual consulting wasn’t aligned with me. It took me until now to fully understand. And it took me healing those parts of me that were ego driven to understand those parts of my path.
Healing.
Healing the part of me that was based on illusions, attachments, and expectations has changed me fundamentally. It has brought me so much clarity and understanding about my own path and my soul’s purposes.
It was one of the hardest healing phases that I’ve been through in the years of my spiritual awakening. It has also brought me inner peace, love, wisdom, and abundance. In ways that I am still discovering.
Remember to bookmark the Exploring Spirituality main blog page. I invite you to come back and visit soon.
I am grateful you’re here. I love you.
Be well, beautiful soul and human,
Nikki