As within, so without

Over the course of today (29th November 2023) the quote 'as within, so without' has revealed itself twice to me. I hadn't heard the quote before (and I love a good quote) so it felt like there was something in it. I spotted it once in the meditation app that I use, and then in an article I read. Both within the space of an hour. How strange.

I found out that it is part of a longer quote that goes...

"as above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul". Hermes Trismegistus

Which basically translates to... whatever we perceive or happens to us in the outer world, is just a reflection or manifestation of what is going on inside of us. What we believe and feel internally shapes our reality and what we become.

We all go through challenging periods in our lives where lots of bad things happen. And sometimes we can fall into the trap of becoming a victim and blaming others or things that are happening around us as the cause of our problems and bad feelings. We're not in a good place internally. We're feeling down and everything is a bit rubbish. And it's 'the others' who are to blame.

I was in a similar mindset at the beginning of 2023. I was in a dark place personally, and I was looking for excuses and people and things to blame for the way I was feeling inside. I'm feeling rubbish, so something outside of me must be causing this. I pondered for the whole Christmas period last year on what it could be. What is going on that is making me feel like this?

I can honesty say that as we approach the end of 2023, I am in a brilliant place personally. Internally I feel great. I feel super confident, I've got my passion back, full of energy and completely connected with myself. So what happened?

I have been on a journey this year, and feel that the quote summarises what was at the root cause of the issue I was having. I was in my own way. I was looking outside of me for excuses and things to blame for the way I was feeling internally. But what I needed was to hold a mirror up and work on me. I needed to focus on what was going on on the inside of me and stop looking outward for the answers.

Easier said than done, so, I got help. I sought the help of a therapist. Through the Better Help app. Poor therapist - Barbara. Having to work with someone who is as weird as me. I'm joking. We had a great time overall. We built up a great friendship and she worked at a pace that I was happy with. She has been brilliant for me. It was challenging at first. Lots of tears. Lots of hard things to talk about. But what a release. I felt lighter after every meeting we had over a 3 month period.

I think you know when something isn't right for you internally, and we can't always find the courage to do something about it. But trust me, if you are feeling down and not feeling great inside, you won't regret it. There are hundreds of people who love to help people and are very good at it. The way I look at it now is that I would be robbing Barbara of her passion if I didn't ask for help.

You have to do the work on yourself to transform your outer world. 'Doing the work' isn't easy. It's uncomfortable. But I feel I have grown so much having been through the support that has been offered to me. Many people have commented over the past few months saying, I seem much happier, I seem less anxious, I seem more relaxed. And I do put all of this down to down the inner work on myself.

I am happy to talk to anyone who would like to know more about what I've been through and how to go about getting the help you need. It's a real opportunity for personal growth, so if I can help enable that, well you would be doing me a favour by letting me help you. Because I love helping people!