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Writer's pictureStephanie MoDavis

Cultivating Authenticity: Attending To Your Inner Opposites


On the journey toward balance and appropriate polarization, self-awareness is key. We must notice when we're reflexively acting from avoidance rather than authentic needs. We must ask, "Am I numbing pain or following my inner truth?”


Relief-seeking behaviors like overworking, substance misuse, or compulsive busyness often cover up discomfort. They provide a temporary high, focusing on all the components “out there” but leave us emptied in the long-term. Plus, relying on quick fixes prevents us from addressing core issues fueling unease. We can see this behavior covertly masked as productivity chasing unattainable egoic highs, a common energetic tactic utilized amongst our present systems and institutions. Glorying left brain dominance which fractures us and limits towards ceasing access to our inner truth. Our connection gets congested often masked with certainty we are behaving the “righteous” way. 


On the other hand, over-analyzing on a particular matter with limited space for alternate intelligence to penetrate, a hyper-fixation on “in there” traps us in our own limitations often stemming from past wounds or outcomes. We spin in frustration rather than taking steps aligned with our values and potential. 


Too much sitting paralyzes and depresses; too much doing distracts. We need both acceptance and action and in a correct order. So how do we find balance?



Discomfort and periods of suffering serves an important purpose - it flags areas needing attention. When emotions like anxiety or sadness arise, first pause to listen to their message. Reflect on what feels off track. But beware getting stuck ruminating on the problem. There comes a point we must shift from processing to responding.


This invites the process of developing conscious awareness. This allows us to honestly examine when we're clinging to either extreme. With practice, we can catch our avoidance tendencies and course-correct. Noticing perfectionistic over-thinking helps us shift from rumination to right action. We see the difference between numbing our pain and nurturing ourselves. It is a process that many have done and many more will be actively coming into. 





You may have heard of this as the positive pole of, “awakening” or 'the shift'. 

Individually then externalized culturally we can be caught in this order being inverted and it is all too easy for others whom have evil intent to capitalize off of this maladaptation. Our own inner unrecognized inversions that perceivably keep us “safe” or “sabotaging” have allowed tactics such as The Great Reset via game theory, arms races, and control tactics.  We can see this as Moloch energy. Often performed covertly than overtly because we are not paying appropriate attention and have not taken any action. How did we get here are questions we ask when we haven’t been in present time for too long. 


We must be an active participant in the culture and life we want to contribute to, while authentically attending to our states of being.  We can no longer sit back with self-interests or family preservations, we should stand up and take an active role in the well-being of our communities and society.


Ask, "What action would serve growth and alignment with my values and values I’d like to see demonstrated, even if they are uncomfortable and require me to change?” Even small steps to care for ourselves or make needed changes can ease inner turbulence contributing more fully to the world we’d like to be a part of. We don't have to entirely vanquish discomfort before taking constructive action. The two can evolve together in a dance of acceptance and movement forward.


With practice, we learn to stay present with emotional waves rather than getting totally swept away. We hold pain compassionately while also guiding our ship steadily ahead. Remaining open and responsive, we gain wisdom from discomfort without allowing it to freeze us in place.


The centered state we seek is not about being perpetually happy and untroubled or perpetually miserable. It is about cultivating resilience - the ability to feel all of life yet not be knocked off course. By facing pain and taking mindful action, we develop an equanimity sturdy enough to weather inner storms. Our path need not be either complete acceptance or action. With wisdom, we learn to integrate both responses on our journey toward authenticty and wholeness, contributing to a culture and society we can be proud of.

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