The Devil Within

“Everyone has a Satan. Allow reason to tell you something cannot be done and Satan dwells in that doubting thought. The moment you accept Christ as the reality and creative power of the world, Satan is present, and to that degree Satan is taking advantage of salvation.” – Neville Goddard

This post is not about religion, per say. It is helpful for our monkey minds to be able to make sense of things by having something to identify/compartmentalize with. Most people can wrap their minds around a devil or something evil, and while the Neville Goddard quote mentions accepting Christ, I'll share my interpretation of what he means below.

Many people don't believe they are intuitive or psychic which I believe is BS.

It's just that we are never taught what intuition is supposed to look or sound like. The only examples we have are from Hollywood - which are over exaggerated and not real.

We are also never taught anything about the voice in our head, so most people spend their lives in reaction to it, not even realizing they can learn to control it.

What I believe religion did get right is that we are all children of God/Universe/Creator/Spirit.

Whatever name you want to call it, we all have that energetic essence that makes us in the image of the All Powerful.

But all things in nature must have balance, and we are no exception.

Don't get me wrong - our minds are powerful; yet they are limited.

When I refer to our minds, I am referring to that loud, know it all voice that runs nonstop in our head. Our monkey mind that chatters on about any and everything.

Which is also our Ego. The ego loves to label, define, judge, shame, and blame. It thrives on the identity we have created for ourselves and does not like deviation. It is never satisfied. It is forever making up stories about life and the things it sees, in an attempt to understand.

I'll go into those stories in detail the next blog post, but for now, any and all conclusions, beliefs, points of view are what I will call the stories of the Ego mind.

Remember when I mentioned balance earlier?

Neville Goddard referred to this Ego mind as the Devil, and it is a brilliant way to look at things. The ego voice is full of fear, worst case scenarios, anxiety, judgment.....all those heavy emotions that tend to keep us from ever taking action on our dreams and/or trusting in anything outside of ourselves.

The Ego mind wants to keep us safe, and it believes safety lies in what we know about the world.

Where does what we know come from?

What we have seen, experienced, lived through, witnessed, and watched.

Which is only one perspective.

Because while I have lived through - and experienced - the world being an unsafe space, full of lack, poverty, stress and struggle, there is someone else who has lived the exact opposite experience.

So who's perspective is true?

The answer is both.

Which means that if we desire a different life than the one we are currently living, it is entirely possible for us to experience that.

All we need to do is change our thoughts, beliefs and perspectives about the world.

Easier said than done.

This is where the Ego mind will very loudly, and not so loudly, sabotage our attempts at a better life.

Not because we are punished or not destined to have what we desire, but because the Ego mind believes safety lies in staying in our comfort zone.

Anytime we have thought of "I should do this," the Ego voice will usually attach to it stories of doubt, amplify our insecurities, and do any and everything to keep us from changing what it knows.

So when we are looking to create change in our lives, it's very helpful to remember that any loud thoughts, criticisms, judgements, and negativity are lies from the Devil.

An easy way to challenge those thoughts is to ask, "Is this ultimately true?"

Hint: The answer will always be no.

That's why it can be super helpful to have a coach call us out on our bullshit.

Because the Devil has had a long time running the show, and we can often be seduced by it without even realizing it.

Having a nonjudgmental witness to our narratives, or our stories, makes it that much easier for us to begin the practice of shifting them.

Change only happens in our lives when we begin to tell ourselves a new story and believe with everything in our bones that the new story is not only possible for us, but very, very real.