I was just listening to a Ryan Adams song in which he asks, “Am I safe with you?” It reminded me of a major step on the spiritual path.
Our egos are always telling us that we are safe with him, but if we have to tell the truth, most of our lives are lived in panic mode. High on adrenaline, in fight-or-flight mode, prehistoric limbic brain pumping, we are certain that any number of completely unavoidable disasters could befall us at any time. It is a life spent en garde, scared to go out, scared to live.
A friend once mentioned that her highest desire was to feel “safe and protected.” We probably created the ego in the first place – back when we were easily convinceable children – because we thought it could do the job.
It Takes A While to figure out that It Isn’t Working.
When we eventually tire – completely and irrecovably – of Not Feeling Safe under the ego’s protection, we are finally willing to take the risk of coming out from under that leaky roof.
That’s when we finally find safety. Because we discover not only that we’re much stronger than the ego….
We’re much stronger than we could ever have imagined.