Here:

What would keep you from letting go of something? The idea that it doesn’t get any better? That you don’t know what else is out there? Trauma? Your sense of loyalty? The good rules you learned to live by?

As you grow in consciousness, liberating yourself into greater expressions of you, the rules and loyalties that you live by will shift their roots–where you draw them from. We all start with what was handed to us and move through stages of sifting, sorting, un-learning and choosing.

Hopefully, your values don’t remain static, however, from that point on. It might seem odd to say that, because values seem like they should remain the same through time. Wouldn’t you always hold the same values for your work ethic, or relationships, or your health, for example? But your values are only as powerful as their relevance to who you are now, updated and upgraded by new knowledge and awareness of who you have become and who you intend to become.

As you transform and evolve internal patterns and your child self from running the show, if you’re bringing your values and loyalties along with you, you will go through many iterations, choosing and refining them intentionally to support your power, joy, connection, selflessness, and ability to thrive, for example, rather than for approval, default, or loyalty to old and less evolved versions of yourself. 

They will be values that come from and agree with what it means to thrive now. To be rooted now. That catalyze truer and more deeply connected versions of yourself, instead of conforming to values that hold you in small or completed versions—even if those versions were considered great and successful at one point in your life. 

“Whatever you need is what you value, and what you value is the satisfaction of the needs of the stage of psychological development you are at and the unmet needs of the stages of psychological development you have passed through that you have not yet mastered.” ~Richard Barrett

What you need today is rarely what you needed yesterday, even if it looks the same on paper. When you realize the relationship between values and needs being the same, you can let go of “here” at least a little easier, move forward with less spin required, and embrace the values that represent where you are leading your life now. 

“In my dream the angel said 
Give up your attachments & I said, 
They’re the only thing keeping me here 
& the angel leaned over & whispered, 
Maybe here is not where 
you’re supposed to be any more.” ~ Brian Andreas

The intentional life, the consciously evolving life, isn’t a static or a follower’s way. Nor is it a flakey way to be sure. It is a go-your-own-way, which takes a lot of internal fortitude and Self-connection, only to realize you are meeting with others who also share your extraordinary values.

Here’s to more of you in the world ❤️

Shelley