I was sitting in the quiet this morning, reflecting on how so many of us—often without even realizing—hand over our integrity, our inner compass, out of fear that something we need or love might be taken from us.
We become afraid: If I do not please, if I do not comply, if I do not bend… will I lose what sustains me?
One of the most subtle and insidious ways this shows up is in our relationship with money.
How many times have we swallowed our truth, silenced our voice, or agreed to something that did not sit right in our soul—all because we were afraid the money might go away? Or perhaps even more deeply, because we had come to believe that without money, we are unloved or unworthy of love.
We fear that the person who pays us, the job that supports us, or the system we depend on will withdraw approval, and with it, our sense of safety and belonging. In this way, we confuse the outer source with the true Source.
And each time we do this, a small part of our light is dimmed. Not because we are weak, or wrong, but because we have been conditioned to believe that survival depends upon our silence. We trade the clarity of the soul for the illusion of security. We learn to shape ourselves to fit expectations, believing that is the price of keeping a roof overhead, food on the table, a place in the world.
But here is a deeper truth: when we betray our inner knowing, we do not merely lose a piece of ourselves—we cloud the very light that would have guided us through.
That light is our essence, our integrity, our divine inheritance.
To reclaim it is not always easy. It takes courage to stand in truth when fear whispers of loss. It takes faith to trust that Life—Spirit itself—will uphold us even when the world tempts us to conform.
Yet each time we choose truth, we weave a different kind of security. One not born of fear or dependence, but of deep alignment with the soul.
Let us not sell ourselves for the illusion of safety. Let us remember that what is truly ours can never be taken. Spirit provides in ways no person, no system, no paycheck can control.
And when we walk in truth, we do not walk alone. We walk with all of the sacred at our side.
Nigel Lott teaandzen.org
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