I cannot remember ever being as joyful in my life as I feel now. Living in a vital body, having amazing, deeply loving relationships with my wife, my family and friends and enjoying my work throughout the day to the best of my ability in full conscious presence.
The joy that is felt from feeling an inner warmth in my body is so precious, and through my honouring that inner feeling thus expands and becomes more. This all started from the moment I met Serge Benhayon some 9 years ago and went to the Universal Medicine presentations, courses and retreats that he presents every year in the UK.
But my life has not always been like this as it was completely different before I met Serge and listened to the Ancient Wisdom he presents. I grew up in a family as the middle of three boys where my father was the provider of income and my mother took care of the household and all that came with that. It felt to me to be a functional family but lacking intimacy and true connection with one another.
I have learned from that upbringing that life is about working hard and trying your best to make something of it – but not loving and appreciating each other for the beautiful people that we are, or about enjoying life. All that was simply not there.
My voicing this is not to blame my parents or my brothers as it was what it was and it was a situation I equally was part of and contributed to. Nobody in our family had ever been told that life could be different and nowhere in our circle of acquaintances did we know people who lived this sort of joyful and appreciative life. We were a normal family, participating in a society where the belief was that life is hard and that “you have to do your best to make it work.”
I can now see what this growing up brought to me for my adult life. There was always an inner dissatisfaction and internal struggle between what life presented to me to be, and what I could feel inside of me. However, there was no reflection of that ‘other true life’ I innately felt, so I chose to work hard to maybe one day achieve that ‘other way of life.’
That lack of inner connection with the love I now know lives in all of us, made me go into the working hard as this brought me positive attention and from this, I built a certain level of self-respect and self-acceptance. Firstly, I put this working hard into my studies and into sports but was never able to sustain it. I always had to improve myself and it was never enough and so this pattern continued to permeate all aspects of my life.
In my professional life, this pattern of not feeling my inner self-worth made me strive to do my job as best as I could, and with that I tried to make everything perfect to the tiniest detail, never considering how much effort this required, nor how much strain I was putting on my body.
Although I was good at my job, I myself was not appreciative of that fact and because of that I did not value what I brought to my work, so I continued in “trying to do it better.” It was never enough and I was still insecure about any decision I made. I doubted myself by letting others advise me about what to do or to choose, although I had all the wisdom, knowledge and experience to know all of this myself.
This pattern also played a role in being a husband, a father and a friend, where I always came from this same lack of self-worth, constantly striving to do it better. These feelings of insecurity meant that I could never appreciate all the beautiful and loving connections I had with my wife, children, colleagues and friends and what I was already bringing to my relationships just by being me.
Thanks to Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine, the Universal Medicine Student Body and not least, my lovely wife and children, I am, without perfection, on the way to fully living that lovely, sensitive, tender and wise man I naturally am. I am learning to surrender to the knowing that in my essence I am already everything and that I can bring all of this wherever I go in humanity.
I don’t have to prove myself anymore as I have rekindled that inner fire, the connection with Soul, the unwavering constant in my life and it will always be so. This reconnection has brought me the joy and vitality I knew was there, but had been looking outside of me to obtain it, while it was always there inside me, waiting for me to reconnect to.
Published with permission of my family.
By Nico van Haastrecht
Further Reading:
Returning to our essence
Learning to Find Me and Live My Life
Appreciation of Life and Ourselves
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
“Just by being me”, is such a simple yet powerful statement. Years ago I wouldn’t have understood this statement, because I didn’t know what that meant. However, since meeting Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine and many of the practitioners, my life is now just about being me. And In that it allows another to be just them too, instead of being in that facade of something else.
It is far from perfect but I would not like to live my life in any other way either. This is a true road to discovering oneself than any other roads/paths we have ever embarked upon. You just need to be willing to say yes to it and the rest will unfold.
“it was never enough” Through the presentations and teachings of the Ageless Wisdom, Serge Benhayon is an inspiration to reconnect and live in full the natural magnificence of who we are in our essence.
I agree, there is always more to discover about ourselves. And that more only comes when we ask and are prepared for it too.
Beautiful to hear and feel Caroline.
We spend too many years trying too many things and along the way we burn ourselves to cinder. Within everyone one of us is the essence that needs reawakening and that is our soul. When we have this relationship with this soul, then life is from joy and we are vitalised, our lives become so much more enriched, it isn’t worth any money, it is our oxygen that keeps our cells alive. That is real life.
What an amazing opening confirmation, to have this level of joy in your life is awesome, ‘I cannot remember ever being as joyful in my life as I feel now.’
Thank you Nico, and when we add together appreciation and intimacy you have a True team that will serve you and others.
Greg, appreciation and intimacy is huge play out within us, it is often lacking. Once we tap into this, then it is a different ball game, our lives are worth more and then we realise so are other peoples lives just as important. And how? By reflecting that anything is possible.
And intimacy is simply letting people in, or being open hearted so we understand they are also Loving beings and that the Joy we are living brings a deep understanding of how energetically appreciation works.
Without this being a criticism of anyone, it’s actually quite cruel that we don’t know how beautiful we each are in our essence. Life in family, education, work, relationships, etc, would be so profoundly different if we knew and cherished ourselves and each other for who we are. Beautiful Nico that you have been able to let go of all the striving and perfectionism to live from your essence and value that by appreciating yourself, I can definitely relate, my world now is so very different thanks to the support of Serge and Universal Medicine.
To live who you are in truth is joyful, ‘The joy that is felt from feeling an inner warmth in my body is so precious, and through my honouring that inner feeling thus expands and becomes more. ‘
The need to prove ourselves in life to self or others comes simply from a disconnection from the Soul, for connected to the Soul, there is no need but to be and to bask in the beauty of who we are and from there live life to the fullest.
Why are we not encouraged to live connected to our Soul as children, this needs to be paramount, ‘There was always an inner dissatisfaction and internal struggle between what life presented to me to be, and what I could feel inside of me.’
It’s interesting to read this Nico
“My voicing this is not to blame my parents or my brothers as it was what it was and it was a situation I equally was part of and contributed to. Nobody in our family had ever been told that life could be different and nowhere in our circle of acquaintances did we know people who lived this sort of joyful and appreciative life. We were a normal family, participating in a society where the belief was that life is hard and that “you have to do your best to make it work.”
Because I was encouraged by the psychiatrist/ psychologist that I saw for many years to believe I was a victim and my parents were to blame. This allowed me to go even deeper into victimhood and it’s a very dark space to go into, not something I would recommend. So meeting Serge Benhayon and listening to his presentations and discovering that my parents were not to blame and that I wasn’t a victim went against all I had been told. I could have dismissed what he said as rubbish, walked away and continued to wallow in my victimhood and misery as I had the perfect excuse not to participate in life but what he said actually made sense to me. Serge Benhayon is the most practical no nonsense person I have met and he challenged all my beliefs and ideals, pressed all my buttons as it were but I felt he was onto something so I didn’t walk away, but attended as many events as I could and I’m so thankful I did as today I have left that dark space of victimhood and blame behind and now live an amazingly joyful life full of vitality sixty three going on twenty.
Yes Mary, any judgement we go in makes us go further away from the light that we are. When you meet Serge Benhayon, who lives his light in full, you can surrender again to this light and start to see life from the other perspective, from the light instead of from the dark space we have created altogether.
Having an amazing, deeply loving relationship is an interesting concept… its not the pretty fluffy relationship which lacks depth and if always nice and fun all the time. Its simply about being yourself, being present in the good times (and maximising the joy) and when things come up (maximising the wisdom and learning) so all of you / us can grow. I love that definition and for me its something to live by.
Joy in life can easily be seen in children, in their abundance of energy and their awe and excitement about life and everyone and everything around. Essentially to connect back to joy it is about letting us be children again in terms of connecting back to the wonders that we allowed ourselves to perceive back then. And this comes from a connection to our deeper essence.
And who wouldn’t want to live in joy instead of the functional way many families exist in, ‘I have learned from that upbringing that life is about working hard and trying your best to make something of it – but not loving and appreciating each other for the beautiful people that we are, or about enjoying life.’
We are all born bundles of joy and provided nothing interferes with us and we are allowed to grow and develop in our natural state, that joy will grow with us. However, our society is not set up in a way to foster and encourage that true joy and natural way of being and so we have agendas, goals, ideals and beliefs that we try to live up to and this is really what dilutes and then waters out almost completely the joy we can feel. But it is not lost forever, for when we come back to our natural way of being, then so too does the joy return and this is a beautiful thing indeed to enjoy though might need some time to get used to again! 😉
Such a beautiful article Nico, ‘the joy and vitality of living life’ is certainly possible when we live in connection to our essence.
‘Nobody in our family had ever been told that life could be different and nowhere in our circle of acquaintances did we know people who lived this sort of joyful and appreciative life.’ This is really important as if we do not have the reflection then we will not know. Thanks to Serge Benhayon, the Benhayon Family, Universal Medicine and many students of the Way of the Livingness we are starting to have a true reflection of how to live and be which I for one have found deeply inspiring.
Reading this blog reminded me how I used to think I always had to improve myself, instead of celebrating that I am already amazing. I thank God for Serge Benhayon. ‘I always had to improve myself and it was never enough and so this pattern continued to permeate all aspects of my life.’
Raising three children knowing the wisdom and love is there inside them is very confirming not just for them but for myself too. I don’t get anxious or worry about them as they grow up and take on new and different challenges in life because they feel secure in their own skin. I am here to support them in all areas of life but especially when there are forces coming towards them (and me) to try and bring us down. I know that everything they need is there and will always be there to tap into and guide them to be everything that they truly are and this awareness seems to be growing regardless of age as I deepen the relationship with self.
‘I am learning to surrender to the knowing that in my essence I am already everything and that I can bring all of this wherever I go in humanity.’ It is a constant process of letting go of our identifications in life and to be aware how everything in this creation we call our world is trying to not let us feel who we truly are, the love we feel inside that is truly out of this world, the divinity we are from.
And too we have to understand that this is our normal, our birthright so to say to be joy-full in life – at any moment, always and that misery is not what we deserve to live.
We have so much more energy and zest for life when we are not battling with ourselves and trying to prove something. Life actually becomes incredibly simple when we embrace who we are without trying to change it or become more.
It is that inner battle that tries to keep life functional and controlled in order to not to have to surrender to the impulses of our soul, those impulses that will stop our zest in creation and let our self dissolve but will open us up to co-create in oneness with our Father instead.
I really love what you have shared here ‘Life actually becomes incredibly simple when we embrace who we are without trying to change it or become more.’ it resonates with me and I can feel how much more I can embrace me for just being me.
While as form childhood we have worked so hard to become an adult and in that hard-working, we mostly lose that simplicity that we had as a child. With hindsight, it would have been wiser to not have worked that hard.
Is not life very simple and very beautiful if we do not need to change it, but simply unfold the potential that is already there?
Appreciating, and being loving with ourselves is so important, ‘Although I was good at my job, I myself was not appreciative of that fact and because of that I did not value what I brought to my work, so I continued in “trying to do it better.” ‘
We naturally and effortlessly become more AS A RESULT of simply being who we already are.
Nico I could so relate to your article I found myself relying on sports to give me that feeling of worth, the struggle and then the success followed by the deflation and then the hunger for what’s next, it was a constant cycle of never being satisfied. Now I have a true connection with myself I have no need for sports or anything else like that to make me feel good about myself because I now know who I am.
“a functional family but lacking intimacy and true connection with one another”. This could be said of the wider family of humanity. We all have a responsibility to bring light and lightness back into the world.
Yes Mary that defenitely is needed. The lightness needs to be brought back to humanity and a way to do this is to bring it in the families first and from there it will spread naturally over the world.
Nico I appreciate reading this again as it’s so relatable, it offers so much understanding about how we are brought up and how life can change when we are presented with another way, a different reflection of how we can live life connected to our soul. Really anything outside of ourselves that we use to try to fill the emptiness within will always be a dead end, it’s truly just that reconnection to our essence that brings us the contentment and fullness we seek. We can then take that out to life and bring it into everything we do, instead of trying to find contentment outside of ourselves.
How different life would be if we were raised in this fullness as of the beginning of our life and in a family that lives this fullness too. There would be no need to look outside for something we are missing from the inside but instead there will be that fulfillment that wants to bring itself out into the world.
When we start to live what we know inside and that is the the wisdom we all have access to. There comes an appreciation also from within which is part of our natural expression that comes out. And we will be be more aware that ‘trying to be better’ and being insecure are our own choices to be made or not to be made.
Beautiful claiming of how you now live Nico, ‘I don’t have to prove myself anymore as I have rekindled that inner fire, the connection with Soul, the unwavering constant in my life and it will always be so.’
What a true joy it is to simply allow ourselves to be, with the knowing that everything is within us to bring forth.
Life in an invisible straightjacket of ideals, expectation, pictures and beliefs is arduous indeed and lacks vitality and joy. It might look good from the outside, ticking a lot of boxes and seemingly successful, but there cannot be any true settlement and ease.
It is also totally draining and exhausting – in fact the more we make it look good on the outside, the more our body cops it, because we’re forcing it to act in an unnatural way. As we let go and accept ourselves for who we are, and where we’re at right now, instead of trying to get to where we want to be, our vitality and body’s harmony naturally starts to restore itself.
Nico I imagine you capture what many people feel, the striving towards a better life and the working towards something to fill what feels missing, for many they believe it’s in retirement and accessing another way of life then. What you have shared is that the other way of life, that something we know is missing, is right there within us. It’s reconnecting to ourselves and to our soul and simply being and appreciating all that we are.
Beautiful, beautiful sharing that says the answer is not in bettering, improving, efforting or striving but simply in reconnecting to our Soul. Your first paragraph – who wouldn’t want to live like that more than going for a bigger house, more money, more of this and more of that? “The joy that is felt from feeling an inner warmth in my body is so precious, and through my honouring that inner feeling thus expands and becomes more” – something that is so available to every one of us, something we should have never given up in the first place.
Once the inner fire is lit, we can then light the path for those around us, just by our being.
What we learn about life during our upbringing puts us in a box from where we relate to it (and to us). As we become the box… that contains us from developing, life too becomes about boxing. When this happens you are faced with a dichotomy: should (can) I stay in the box, or should (can) I step outside of it? This goes on until we realize that boxing was the problem in the first place.
The feeling of a lack of self worth is such a killer as everything is not enough as one is not enough. Regaining that, as you so humbly share Nico, then, “I don’t have to prove myself anymore as I have rekindled that inner fire, the connection with Soul, the unwavering constant in my life and it will always be so” and with that comes the inner joy which enhances all around one not only oneself.
I also have felt that deep dissatisfaction throughout my life and then when I read one of Serge Benhayons books I realised that he knew that feeling also. This had never been expressed to me by any of the spiritual leaders I had come in contact with prior to meeting Serge. Since attending presentations run by Universal Medicine, I no longer get the deep sense of despair that was in my life.
I find it quite challenging to express in words how amazing it is to “no longer get the deep sense of despair that was in my life” and for that I will forever be thankful to Serge Benhayon for showing me the way back to myself and in doing so to have purpose and fulfilment in my life and myself.
We often say or feel that God has abandoned us and blamed others for our woes, where in fact it is us who walk away from that inner connection to ourselves and our loveliness. Universal Medicine can and does remind us of this connection as a birthright and that it is our choice to accept it or reject it.
Universal Medicine is universal medicine for all and its teachings are common sense, very practical and nothing than what we don’t already know.
I realised sometime ago that what ever I did, and no matter how much I tried, it was never enough, the problem being that I felt that I was never enough. As I am learning to bring more self love and care into my life I am feeling my own self worth, that I am enough, just being the beautiful gorgeous me.
Your first sentence says it all for me Nico as at the tender age of 68 “I cannot remember ever being as joyful in my life as I feel now”. Growing up 68 seemed so old and my view of life at that age seemed very bleak and all ‘downhill’ as the saying goes. Well it couldn’t be further from the truth and that truth I have come to understand from the presentations of Serge Benhayon. Now 68 seems really young to me and I am sure that the joy that I live with is supporting me to feel younger and younger every day.
Having to prove ourselves is such a toxic pattern…. constantly looking for approval, trying to fit into a pre-determined shape, having that deep insecurity that we are not enough. Exhausting, and so at odds to how we come into this world… carefree, naturally ourselves, and ready to just give it a go.
Why did no one support us to stay connected to our essence when we were children? I guess because it became the ‘norm’ to disconnect and enjoin others, as I don’t recall meeting anyone living their true essence. If we learnt to hold onto our essence when we were young I am sure self-worth issues would hardly exist.
We try so many things outside of ourselves to be accepted, to be enough, and all we are left with is the emptiness and a feeling that something is missing. It is so amazing that what we seek and what we long for lives deep within us, and when we connect to our divine essence and live life from that connection we are enough, just being us.
I love joy which is not surprising as joy is from the same family as love. I also love working hard in joy.
“The Joy and Vitality of Living Life” – is as i’ve had the absolute pleasure in experiencing, with the presence of love that is lived. The quality of love is the quality of life.
Living in a functional way helps us survive day to day human life but the more lovingly we actively stoke our fire within the more we cannot but lighten up and bring our relationships with both ourselves and others alive.
Today I was walking along the street with such a bounce and swagger in my step that I could not help being joyful and for the joy to be felt by others.
‘I was still insecure about any decision I made’ I can relate to this and felt a level of insecurity this week, I realised that this feeling of insecurity was what I used live with and to accept as my normal. Now, I have a steadiness within which supports me not to fear the decisions I make, if I make a choice now and that proves to be a bit of a stuff up well that’s cool because I can learn from it. No self bashing needed. So much has changed in recent years, thanks to the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom and even by only the smallest percentage of what Serge Benhayon presents we can complete change our lives. I now find it hard to believe that I accepted living with a constant anxiety and insecurity as my normal which was not normal at all.
I have also felt insecure about decisions I have made, in fact I have had times when making a decision at all has been a major feat. I find your blog here really inspiring, the spaciousness and feeling of joy you express here for life is gorgeous, thank you Nico van Haastrecht.
Spaciousness is certainly something that is missing when it is just about ticking boxes and submitting ourselves to a picture of how life should be.
Knowing yourself for who you are via that reconnection to your essence is the most joy-full experience to hold and unfold – the depth of who you are and what you genuinely offer uniquely to the world.
Lovely to read, Nico, and even more lovely to see the changes in you over the years I have the pleasure to know you. Your final paragraph says it all, “I don’t have to prove myself anymore as I have rekindled that inner fire, the connection with Soul, the unwavering constant in my life and it will always be so. This reconnection has brought me the joy and vitality I knew was there, but had been looking outside of me to obtain it, while it was always there inside me, waiting for me to reconnect to.”
“loving and appreciating each other for the beautiful people that we are,” Serge Benhayon inspires, by the way he lives, a true way of living with love.
“I am learning to surrender to the knowing that in my essence I am already everything and that I can bring all of this wherever I go in humanity.” It is interesting that we are always striving to be something that we are not, when all we have to do is to connect and surrender to who and what we all ready are, from deep within.
There are so many things that serve to deprive us from living a life of ‘joy and vitality” and the endless seeking of perfection is one of them. Trying to be perfect in everything we do is exhausting and if this perfection is sought day after day it is understandable that our precious body will begin to suffer. To accept life as it is and to allow it to unfold in its own time, and in its own glory, denies exhaustion a place in our lives, so making plenty of space for joy and vitality to be our normal way of being.
We think that the feelings of wanting or needing to prove ourselves are to do with another person, but actually it’s our own sense of inadequacy that leads to the lacking of sense of worth, and hence our relationship to US is what can change this.
Beautiful comment – brings it all back to how what choice are we going to make about this life?
Thank you Nico, as a student and also in my work life I would at times put myself under incredible strain to do my best, and everything was related to the end result. I never understood at the time that I was enough just for being me, no where was this message or reflection being lived in others for me to see. I am still letting go of this approach to work so that I value myself and all I bring to my day and not the functionality alone of completing work tasks well. Although we need this world to function via the productivity of workplaces, more than anything we need this world to evolve, and that comes from living connected to our essence and soul everyday.
When we are trying to be a ‘good’ person or ‘good at our job’ there will be a lack of appreciation and joy. When we set a marker of our worth outside ourselves it can never feel fulfilling or joyful. Appreciation comes from feeling the loveliness and realness inside us at each moment, not from any goal outside us.
Yes, I agree, trying just doesn’t work, feel our worth is about our connection to ourselves, feeling our exquisiteness and letting life unfold from there.
‘The joy that is felt from feeling an inner warmth in my body is so precious, and through my honouring that inner feeling this expands and becomes more.’ Beautiful Nico a simple expression of true evolution.
“It felt to me to be a functional family but lacking intimacy and true connection with one another” – valuing the way your post carries and holds such intimacy and connection Nico, you show us through your ‘before and after’ story how possible it is and how life can be when we choose (to) love.
We come to this world, land in a family that has ‘its’ ways, through which we learn what is normal. We bundle with like-minded people, cementing even further the idea of normality. Over time we are exposed to other ‘normalities’ and we relate to them from ‘ours’ till we realize it was never truly ours in the first place.
Much of what we have come to accept as normal in society is anything but ‘normal’.
“The Joy and Vitality of Living Life” – Nico even just reading this title alone i.e without reading your blog…I was just thinking about how many of us can honestly, truly say we are enjoying life in this naturally (not artificially stimulated) vital way?? Love how your blog goes on to describe and inspire how to do so…when there is love as the core foundation. Beautiful.
” I don’t have to prove myself anymore as I have rekindled that inner fire, the connection with Soul, the unwavering constant in my life and it will always be so. ” This is beautiful Nico thank you for sharing.
It is great to read in the comment above by Elizabeth, how living and working with purpose has brought vitality to her life. Maybe what we all need is a sense of purpose, and not a cup of coffee.
I have been finding that the more I work with a sense of purpose the more vital I become. Purpose definitely brings vitality.
Hi Elizabeth, I can sense that too, the more I can connect to the wisdom in my body and live that, the more I can feel the purpose of life. That this is the purpose of life, to give expression to that Ageless Wisdom I am connected to. And the livingness that this way of living life brings, makes my body alive again and in that it slowly it regains its vitality, simply by activating The Way of The Livingness in my body.
What a turn around from never feeling enough, and searching on the outside, to now accepting and loving yourself, ‘ I am, without perfection, on the way to fully living that lovely, sensitive, tender and wise man I naturally am. I am learning to surrender to the knowing that in my essence I am already everything and that I can bring all of this wherever I go in humanity.’
“We were a normal family, participating in a society where the belief was that life is hard and that “you have to do your best to make it work.” And it’s that true of probably 99.9% of the families in the world, but only because there hasn’t been anyone around reflecting that life can be another way – one full of love, joy and appreciation. Until Serge Benhayon came along that is. Now there are hundreds of people living this way to the best of their ability, reflecting to everyone they meet that life doesn’t have to be hard – it’s our choice.
This is beautiful and so true in my experience, ‘The joy that is felt from feeling an inner warmth in my body is so precious, and through my honouring that inner feeling thus expands and becomes more.’
Nico I agree with you when you said, ‘I cannot remember ever being as joyful in my life as I feel now. Living in a vital body.’
I have more joy and vitality now in my 60’s than when I was in my 30’s and 40’s this is amazing and my family are in awe as they feel I’m getting younger not older and cannot understand it. They see the choices I make with my food and drink as being disciplined but to me I actually love and adore my body so why would I want to trash it with food that will upset the harmony I have reconnected with again within me, it doesn’t make any sense to do this.
“Although I was good at my job, I myself was not appreciative of that fact and because of that I did not value what I brought to my work, so I continued in “trying to do it better.” It was never enough and I was still insecure about any decision I made.”
I know this belief and the way it runs the body so very well. The appreciation we must come to resides innately within us, but is forever at arms reach in when we are staying stuck in trying to prove our worth.
“However, there was no reflection of that ‘other true life’ I innately felt, so I chose to work hard to maybe one day achieve that ‘other way of life.’”
This is so true for myself and I wonder just how many feel there is more to life, and how much this feeling begins to be dulled and disregarded in getting caught in the current paradigm that society is today. My feeling is that there are many who ‘give up’ on finding what the feel to be true. This ‘give up’, to me is a tragedy of exorbitant proportions.
“This reconnection has brought me the joy and vitality I knew was there, but had been looking outside of me to obtain it, while it was always there inside me, waiting for me to reconnect to.” Beautiful Nico. Reconnecting to our innermost – which patiently waits for us to do so when we are ready – opens us up to so much more in life.
I was also struck by these words Sue. Nothing outside of us will ever confirm us like the love, joy and fiery warmth of our soul.
I would agree, life was more functional before meeting Serge Benhayon, and so missing many vital components like ‘appreciating each other for the beautiful people that we are, or about enjoying life.’
If we have chosen for a long time to better our lives based on the outside, like getting ahead in a job, this will put a strain on our bodies which is not just a switch we switch off. Like every behaviour, this behavior will ingrain itself in the body. By choosing love again – which is a switch – these effects will slowly disappear from our bodies.
When we are present and with our bodies we feel connected and with this comes a sense of joy even if we are doing something that is perceived to be mundane.
‘I doubted myself by letting others advise me about what to do or to choose, although I had all the wisdom, knowledge and experience to know all of this myself.’ Living life relying on others to advise us is exhausting, leaves us lacking in confidence and with more doubt.
Like many others who’ve commented, I too recognise the idea that life has to be hard, and if it’s not we’re somehow not trying hard enough. I can joyfully write that this is no longer the case, thanks to the inspiration from Serge Benhayon and so many other incredible people in the Universal Medicine student body. I am really and deeply starting to feel and know that I am enough as me – period. No frills no caveats, being me is everything that is ever needed.
I grew up with this idea too Nico that life had to be hard work to be worth it – like it wasn’t enough to just ‘be’ and enjoy being yourself, but that life was about proving yourself in some way, working hard to prove your existence and to not be ‘found out’, told off for being lazy or stupid. Turning the tables and starting to understand that nothing I ever do will be more than who I am, is like turning around an oil tanker in mid-flow, but it’s so totally worth it, because with that comes an enormous letting go, a freedom, simplicity, and so much joy.
Beautifully expressed and shared thank you Nico, ” I am learning to surrender to the knowing that in my essence I am already everything and that I can bring all of this wherever I go in humanity.” this too I am learning, simply allowing this knowing to be, and appreciating this is something I can go back to whenever I stray.
Reminding us all of the so called ‘impossible’, as we deeply but oh so deeply know that we can life from a joy and vitality in life, yet we also know that this has been not the way we are living – and that it needs a deeply made change. Meaning a quatum leap to what we have created to be ‘life’, we need to look honestly and drop that which we actually know that does not serve us and so naturally not others.
Thank you Nico, it’s a true blessing to receive the support of the work of Serge Benhayon and begin to live the way of the soul on earth. I could relate to this line “I doubted myself by letting others advise me about what to do or to choose, although I had all the wisdom, knowledge and experience to know all of this myself.” We don’t as a culture truly appreciate or confirm the amazing qualities we have, which I feel is part of allowing self doubt and unnecessarily looking outside of ourselves. Whilst it’s truly beneficial to seek support, we also need to feel how much we have to offer ourselves, and how much we can rely on our own wisdom and knowing.
And my experience of reconnecting to the spark inside me is that this is the beginning of an enormous and forever unfolding relationship… the more I acknowledge and honour the truth of this spark (which we all have and is therefore our re-union) the more it gets to emanate.
Yes Matilda, and with never-ending depths to expand into.
I too have struggled with not feeling enough in life. It is wonderful to come to a place of acceptance where you can say ‘I am enough,’ and drop all the trying and striving for the unobtainable perfection.
This is so familiar – we can try very hard to be better and live better only to reinforce the lack of self-worth and when we learn to simply just be, true joy returns.
A true reminder that we are already everything – there is no need for striving, trying or perfection…. simply to live the real and true us.
I too have grown up trying to prove myself and or identifying with the type of person or job I wanted to do and then excelled at it but the drive on my body was agonising. Appreciating and valuing who I am already, before I even set foot into my job and or family role allows me to truly see what makes me tick and that the very essence of who we are is worth far more than any job title, possession or picture of what we think brings us so much joy and yet it falls way short of the natural vitality, expression and love we are already by simply walking and connecting from our bodies. A great blog thank you Nico.
There is nothing really fulfilling in what we do, but in what we are. Something very simple and sadly, very uncommon in our families and society.
It’s normal to just get by, it’s normal to be seen as doing it tough, it’s normal to exist in life and settle for less – this can only be because the majority are choosing it. We need a different reflection and new standard for life – one that reflects Joy and the lightness of our being in everything we do. Then the mundane settlers will be exposed for the lack they are living.
Sometimes I see snippets of when people allow their joy to be seen. It is a pure delight to observe as it lights up not only their face but the whole room.
It only takes one person to be connected to joy for the spark to be rippled out.
Like your first two paragraphs I can say my life is amazing now, but it hasn’t always been. But through the consistent love and living example of there being another way of life through Universal Medicine I too have been inspired. The way we live is very powerful as we are all watching each other and confirming that theres only one way or that there is another way away from the ‘life is hard’ belief.
Today I watched a woman today all bubbly and ‘happy’ she arrived at her workplace. She was just about to start work and was taking over the register where I was being served. What came out of her mouth next was the give away, as she shared that she didn’t want to be there. What was being projected on the outside did not match what was actually going on. When there is no appreciation for what we actually bring and share, nothing can actually hide this.
Gorgeous, Nico. And gently consciousness-breaking, showing us a new way to be with ourselves, at work and in our families. Universal Medicine and all those who are choosing live in accordance with the philosophies it presents are pioneering something very special.
Valuing who we are plays a big role in how we see ourselves in life and how we then move with it or against it. When we value our every move we see just how precious and needed those movements are and the quality felt from the movements is pure heaven.
Surrender is so under-rated. Humanity can be so ‘egotistical’ is believing that they know all that is to be known. To Surrender is to allow all that we are – the wisdom, love, tenderness and presence to be our way. Surrendering is the choice that brings deep truth and awareness.
Christine thank you for your powerful comment, it’s a beautiful way to see the world and I can feel this comes from your personal (lived) truth. There is such a humility in surrender, to simply allow ourselves to be all we are and all the wisdom and love we come from, no knowledge needed.
I can relate with what you share about valuing yourself in your work and with what you bring to life. This is a pattern that has been there in my own life too and it stems from the needs of security that we develop when we are at school. I am letting go of this too and standing more and more in the potential of what I can bring and the truth I feel in my body. In that way I can let go of tension, pressure, anxiety and stress and appreciate and enjoy myself in what I do knowing it will naturally be amazing anyway.
it is interesting to consider that as of young we can make either choises to live a life in denial of who we are or we can choose to live to our essence, the fire that lives in us and to not allow to let anything come in between but to nourish and appreciate this essence to become more instead.
For years I have focused my life on doing and what needs to be done rather than the quality that I’m doing whatever it is that I’m doing in. By bringing connection to myself and my movements, the quality changes, I let go of the struggle and I feel a joy in the simplicity of the way that I am living.
‘I don’t have to prove myself anymore as I have rekindled that inner fire, the connection with Soul, the unwavering constant in my life’ As I read this line I could feel myself surrender and I realised how much I still feel I need to prove myself when there is absolutely nothing to prove in me just being me. I can feel the sadness with which I go through life still putting on a facade and believing that somehow I am not enough when I know that by being myself there is just simply nothing more to be.
“learning to surrender’, is something I am still learning, but when I do surrender, I can feel grace flowing through me. We do not have to fight, to push, to struggle and make life complicated, and there is so much support available to us when we surrender to whatever life presents us with.
There is great joy in paying attention to the details. Nothing is ever too small to bring our all to.
No matter how we are raised and what our upbringing has made us to believe we are, there is always a choice to return to that love that resides in our inner hearts.
Yes and it’s never to late to do so.
Its a revelation to know joy is always within, sitting with its brothers of love, and stillness, waiting for us to connect to it.
True connection with another is more meaningful than any skill we may ever acquire or ideal we accept.
Yes and yet this is not fostered in schools where the focus is becoming more and more on the importance of maths, English and computing (which are indeed important) rather than the quality of connection and relationships we have with one another.
What stood out to me was the importance of choosing the values we want to be the foundation of our family and life. Once they were working hard and trying to make the best of it and now they are appreciation and enjoying being with each other whilst of course still working hard. Such a massive difference.