The Awakening - Virginia Swift
By: Bred • Essay • 1,358 Words • December 13, 2009 • 1,119 Views
Essay title: The Awakening - Virginia Swift
The Awakening
A time comes in your life when you finally get it... When in the midst
of all your fears and insanity you stop dead in your tracks and
somewhere the voice inside your head cries out - ENOUGH!! Enough
fighting and crying or struggling to hold on. And, like a child quieting
down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder
once or twice, you blink back your tears and through a mantle of wet
lashes you begin to look at the world through new eyes.
This is your awakening.
You realize that it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to
change or for happiness, safety and security to come galloping over
the next horizon. You come to terms with the fact that he is not Prince
Charming and you are not Cinderella and that in the real world there
aren't always fairy tale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and
that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you and in
the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.
You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone
will always love, appreciate, or approve of who or what you are...and
that's OK. (They are entitled to their own views and opinions). And you
learn the importance of loving and championing yourself and in the
process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.
You stop bitching and blaming other people for the things they did to
you (or didn't do for you) and you learn that the only thing you can
really count on is the unexpected. You learn that people don't always
say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will
always be there for you and that it's not always about you. So you
learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself and in the
process a sense of safety & security is born of self-reliance.
You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people
as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties and
in the process a sense of peace & contentment is born of forgiveness.
You realize that much of the way you view yourself, and the world
around you, is as a result of all the messages and opinions that have
been ingrained into your psyche. And you begin to sift through all the
crap you've been fed about how you should behave, how you should
look and how much you should weigh, what you should wear and
where you should shop and what you should drive, how and where you
should live and what you should do for a living, who you should marry
and what you should expect of a marriage, the importance of having
and raising children of what you owe your parents. You learn to open
up to new worlds and different points of view. And you begin
reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.
You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin
to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown, or should never
have bought into to begin with and in the process you learn to go with
your instincts.
You learn that it is truly in giving that we receive. And that there is
power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop
maneuvering through life merely as a