Use Higher Self to Guide Your Daily Conversations

Halfway through the conversation, I realize something is off. My breath is catching high in my chest. I’m smiling too much, and my talk is mostly nervous chatter. I feel removed, slightly guarded. As I look deeper, I see I am worried about being judged or accepted. I’m using nervous chatter to fill the space between us, to maintain a boundary.

This is not what I want; I want to cut through the static and make an authentic connection.

Too often, we treat conversations lightly as a casual exchange of pleasantries. But our interactions with others can be much more. Every exchange is an opportunity to increase self-awareness and express love, two prime foundations for spiritual growth. A helpful way to do this is to shift to the perspective of the higher self.

My higher self is my true nature. It expresses my highest virtues and connects me to Spirit. My ego self contains the patterns of conditioning I have learned to navigate the physical world. Ego sees me as a separate being and works to protect me. Higher self understands my interrelatedness with others and seeks connection.

The interplay between my higher self and ego self is constantly in flux, and this is what is happening in the conversation above. My ego self wants to protect me from being judged or rejected, but it is causing separation. To lower my defenses and create connection, I need to view our conversation from my higher self. Here are some ideas:  

• • I can increase my presence by noticing what is happening inside me. Because the ego works primarily from a stance of protection and separation, it creates a tightening somewhere in my body. If I stop and look for where I feel physical tension, I can start to relax and release it.
    
    
  • I call upon my higher self to be with me and guide my actions. I don’t scold my ego self, but I move it to the side and reassure it that all is well. Consciously invoking my higher self causes me to soften and open, allowing me to perceive more information.
    
    
  • I also look to the higher self in the person I am talking with. I envision my higher self talking to their higher self. We are both, after all, vastly complex individuals who show only a sliver of our full selves to each other. Somewhere in the complex of our joint space, our higher selves are already meeting. I attune my perception to that space.
    
    
  • I remain curious about what might arise in this field of possibility. Connection can’t be forced; you can’t intrude into intimacy without permission. But the relaxed, open state of my higher self is more conducive to connection than my nervous, ego state. Whatever happens now is better than what was possible from the state of my ego self.

We all want to live a rich, fulfilling life, and attending to our spiritual growth helps us do that. But we are also part of a larger project. Spirit is always moving consciousness forward toward greater awareness, deeper harmony, and a fuller expression of love. Spirit uses our daily interactions to further its mission – which is our mission. Every conversation, interaction, exchange, thought, emotion, reaction, is another chance, thousands a day, to move the mission along.

Don’t feel overwhelmed. It doesn’t matter how many chances pass by unnoticed. Spirit doesn’t want us to waste time on regret. Take the opportunity in front of you and use it.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash