Labels, Schmabels...!

"Don't seek the truth; just drop your opinions."
(some old, and likely dead, Zen master)

Really, we can drop our theories now. Truth isn't something we search for ... it just is. And if we stop being opinionated, so infatuated with what we think we know, truth finds us. If we drop the labels, we run smack-dab into truth.

So, what's a label? Anything other than "human being."

What do you call others? Man, woman, child, idiot, beurocrat, infidel, heretic, Presbyterian, friend, lawyer, enemy...? Maybe you're aware of this ... maybe you see that you put labels on others.

And are you aware that you put labels on yourself?

What do you say, to yourself, following these words: "I am ..."?

I am what? What do you say to yourself? How are you labeling yourself?

Here are some of my own, from the past (that which was previously perceived as true, but that which I now know to be lies):

I am a failure. I am an imposter. I am a liar. I am depraved. I am inferior. I am overlooked. I am less-than. I am overbearing. I am an embarassment. I am worthless.

Yeah, it was a dark and hopeless world I once lived in ...

And now, here are some of the things that follow my "I am's" ~

I am happy. I am alive. I am irrepressible. I am curious. I am kind. I am enthusiastic. I am vibrant. I am valuable. I am valued. I am gifted. I am intense. I am awakening. I am loved. I am mySelf.

Do you see the power of those words, "I am"...? What follows becomes your reality.

So, tune in to your out-loud and inner-whispered self-talk ... what are you saying about yourself? Are you seeing who you really are, or are you choking yourself with labels?

Labels, schmabels...!

You really can drop your theories, now.

Shalom, Dena