Difficult beginnings can lead to exceptional endings

I was born into and raised by a very loving family. We were poor but happy. My family was very religious; some people would say extreme. I was very sheltered and kept away from anyone that was not a member of our religion. My parents taught me that I was a sinner and I was inherently evil and needed to redeem myself. Do you know what I wanted more than anything in the world? I wanted personal freedom and unconditional love from anywhere I could get it. I wanted it very badly. That was my dream! It sounds like a simple dream, but when you grow up in a world where everyone you know believes one thing and only that one thing, it is far from simple.

It makes you feel incredibly safe to believe that you are God’s chosen people. It feeds your ego and makes you think in some ways you are better than others after all God will discard them all soon enough. It also makes you terrified ever to consider walking away. It is a beautiful prison. You feel loved, but you know all too well that there are boundaries to that love. If you step just one step too far away from God, that love will be quickly pulled away from you by everyone around you. You watch it happen to others, so you know the consequences.

At the age of 25, I had a spiritual awakening. I began to journal, not to keep a record of my life but rather to extract what was in my head. I wanted to see it, and I wanted to see all of it, the good, the bad and the ugly most of all. There was a deep motivating force within me, pushing me forward. I soon began to understand why my life was in a shambles, my relationships were failing, and I felt lost. You see I was 25, I was homeless, I had no car, no money, no job, two failed marriages, and three children. WOW! Yes, I was a complete mess.

Now, this was the turning point for me because rather than keep blaming those around me, and I chose to become fully personally accountable. I saw what I wrote down as I wrote in my journal and I owned every last word. Now I had a path, and a desire to clean up this mind of mine! To heal from these wounds that were bleeding all over the paper, not only in my past but in my current life as well. To love this incredible woman that was me. To free her from feeling trapped or alone. It was only the beginning, but it was the start of something incredible.

You see once you begin to believe in yourself, magic happens. Others will try to pull you back into old ways of thinking or being, but once you are free of the guilt, fear, and shame, they no longer work on you. You dissolve the beliefs that held you, prisoner. You openly and proudly question everything and everyone, including yourself. You choose what you will put faith in and what your life will be. I wanted personal freedom and unconditional love. I quickly found out that only we can honestly give that to ourselves.

Also Read: You are a superhero!

Of course, I had teachers, friends, and guides along the way. Their insights were perfectly timed and invaluable, but the work that needed to happen was always my own. The real healing had to be done by me and me alone. You cannot place that in the hands of anyone else. You hold the keys to your prison, and with guidance, you too can free yourself from whatever may be keeping you in prison. It could be similar to my story, or it could be completely different. Nothing is stopping you from living the life you want to live but the lies in your mind and the fear, guilt or shame that shackles them there.

This year I have decided to begin guiding others in their path to freedom. I have developed a process of personal development to assist others on their way called Life Refinement. It is based on my personal experiences and the teachings of many great masters that have helped me. I am committed to bringing light, freedom and more peace into this world, and anything that can free you from guilt, fear or shame is a step in that direction. I believe we create our realities and I am going to create the most beautiful experience I possibly can for myself while I am still breathing. If you are ready to join me in that endeavor, then go to www.mistysummers.com now to learn more.