182 - A New Beginning

Fifteen years ago, in a moment of inspiration, I thought: "What if I could create a world-class skincare brand from the ground up." The idea germinated for a while. Then, eleven years ago, I left the corporate world, rolled up my sleeves, and gave birth to Avesence without realizing all the struggle it would lead me into.At the time, I assumed I would be financially successful very quickly, but God had other plans for me. To get HIS message, I had to undo many false beliefs and learn to appreciate each and every step of the journey. The whole experience led me to discover many life secrets, which is what I'm going to share with you. __________________Today, since the show is about "a new beginning," I want to reintroduce myself. I know I've previously mentioned that I'm an entrepreneur; I created a skincare brand, I'm a mother, and I was married for 19 years and then divorced. But what if I removed all these labels? What if I'm no longer a mother, a friend, a sister, an ex-wife, a podcaster? Who am I, then?My aha moment came when I contracted Covid last August. For as long as I can remember, I was always on the go, doing something. I either work, read, think, cook, walk, garden, or clean. For eight days, Covid obliged me to be still—as I had no energy to get up. Finding myself without energy helped me realize how much our energy matters. On the fifth day, I couldn't sleep because my body was aching from being too long in bed. As I tossed and turned, I started to think of all the people who were severely sick with Covid and were hospitalized for months. Then I thought about the people who didn't make it.Then my mind shifted toward all the people who struggle with an illness and are not sure if they will fully recover. Then I thought of Steve Jobs. From an American society's perspective, Jobs was admired by many and was labeled as a successful, wealthy innovator. But how did he feel the last few months, lying in a hospital bed, knowing his time was almost up? He could have all the wealth in the world, but he couldn't delegate his sickness to anyone. Did any of his labels matter at that point? Then I fell into some kind of twilight zone, and something profound arose from within. I started to see the labels I had identified myself with. As I detached myself from them, I could feel the dept of consciousness tickling my soul. But this was just the beginning. At one point, I saw myself half inside a huge bubble and the other outside. The part that was outside felt free, but the part that was inside was scared.The best way I can explain this is by sharing this story.Imagine when we are born; we are pure love and light, which is our consciousness. Then as we grow up, we are told stuff. Some words or events are encouraging and kind, others hurtful. And as a defense mechanism, the mind finds ways to cope with unpleasant lessons by putting a little strip of plaster and bandages around the soul. We gradually mummify our souls to a point where we no longer see who we truly are. We see ourselves through society's labels and roles.For example, when we visit a doctor, a person will be labeled as a physician while I'm labeled "the patient" because I have to wait a long time. Society dictates that we must be OK with that.I realized that when our being is wrapped around in labels, we turn into zombie-like humans. We function on autopilot and will do and behave according to the mind programming dictated by our environment.A mummified soul cannot see the light and will feel disconnected from Source, leading to a lack of clarity. When we can't see, what do we do? We tread carefully. We play safe. After many years of doing the same things, we lose touch with our intuitions. Every discomfort, stress, anxiety, worry, and body pain indicate something is wrong, and we need to coast correct. But the mind and the...