A Course in Love & Healing 
 
Lesson 38

Standing Up
for Your Highest Self

By Dr. Scott Peck & Shannon Peck 
Co-Founders, TheLoveCenter

Your Highest Self is the highest, finest, best of you. It is the term we use for describing your inner, sacred soul which is on a quest to greatly evolve in the light.  

Highest Self carries our life’s gifts and blessings. Yet, the Highest Self is often misunderstood, ignored, and even attacked – by others as well as ourselves. When someone’s Highest Self is pronounced, it is usually without the permission of society, and it may even be unpopular. This is because Highest Self carries a vision not often seen by others, but individually perceived.  

Regardless of the doubts and even deepest discouragements you may have, your Highest Self is equipped to deal with every obstacle to standing in its magnificence. Your inner flame is designed to remove obstacles in your path while enlightening everything in your life. Let’s talk about three areas where problems to the Highest Self take place most often. 

First of all, Highest Self is the inner Voice of intuition carrying the guidance for your life. It is the place of all your knowing, your answers, your highest place of operating. This is an area where we are reluctant to trust. Our society is trained to think along a rational, linear pattern where we trust what we see. There is not much to encourage intuition. We stand up for our Highest Selves every time we tune in to our intuition to be guided in all our decisions. In this way, when big decisions are called for, we are prepared to make them from the stand point of our Highest Selves. By acting humbly by the authority of our Highest Selves, we bring in more light for ourselves and all others. 

Secondly, when we speak or act from our Highest Selves, we may take criticism from those who do not agree. This is another area where we need to stand up. Yet, who are we to be so bold or courageous and go against the flow of popular thought? Who are we to break tradition and think and act creatively and originally for ourselves and the path of our lives? Who do we think we are for being so non-conforming, breaking moulds of expectations others hold for us?  

It is important to recognize that Highest Self needs to be defended, even if only silently within yourself, whenever it appears to be different from others. Take heart. We have historical and current leaders who have taken the same risks and we call them saints and martyrs and we use the word greatness to describe them. Should not we, too, take our place in the divine scheme of our lives? Far from ego, each of us must ultimately take our true place and occupy it as our soul niche in eternity. Highest Self is the road map to this place in destiny. 

Thirdly, and the hardest of all, we, ourselves, doubt our Highest Selves. Fear of being different from others and inner doubts cause us to retreat from our true selfhood. Yet, if we do not believe in ourselves, who will? Standing up for our Highest Selves then is imperative.  

How can we change this ingrained pattern of self disbelief? In many ways, we need to change the way we practice living self esteem. Negative opinions of ourselves that have been long held need to be challenged and rooted out. Each of us carries an immense potential gift to others, even to the entire world. One kind act or one moment of compassion sends a rippling effect to all the universe, lessening the suffering on the planet. Even butterflies in the Amazon are affecting the ecosystems in North America and the color hues of the planet’s flowers affect the planet’s overall temperature. Each of us is equally powerful to bring forth a change, especially when it is guided by the Highest Self. 

In fact, it’s even more. Highest Self brings forth healing. Think of how much suffering is taking place at any given moment around the globe. There are people – women, men, and children – who are silently living in pain right now. Sometimes it is we ourselves who are crying in pain. Animals and ecosystems struggle with stress, burden, and danger. Fear is rampant in the human consciousness. What can possibly change all of this unless we step outside the box of everything perpetuating ignorance and step into our true selves, our Highest Selves, the selves that know and carry our wisdom? 

Einstein saw the problem and the remedy. He said, “Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.” By this statement, he suggested we take a new and creative approach to solving our problems. Einstein certainly lived by what he taught. His Highest Self was capable of advancing an entire civilization into greater understanding of reality itself. He was a genius. There is genius in us all, because Highest Self is genius awareness. 

As we courageously practice being our true, Highest Selves and think out from this place of intuited knowing, we will be guided to speak and act rightly, affecting the entire globe. And when we make a mistake, we can forgive ourselves and learn from it. Our divinity is innate. Even those who appear to be our worst enemies have the same Highest Self within them, although it has, at least for the moment, been forsaken. Practicing our true height of being-ness is a call to action for each of us to remember who we are, allow our soul to come forward, and stand up for our Highest Self. Welcome to the heart of Love.

ABOUT THIS COURSE IN LOVE & HEALING

The goal of the Course in Love & Healing is to raise universal consciousness to what is possible in Love. The Course consists of a continuing series of short, illuminating lessons offered to those who wish to receive them and is a gift from TheLoveCenter, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to bringing all humanity into the heart of Love. Feel free to copy and share this Course with others, but please do so in its entirety.  Add me to the mailing list to receive these free columns.  

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