“The only journey is the one within” Rainer Maria Rilke
Years ago, I read Bronnie Ware’s The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying and it’s essentially a memoir about her experiences and learnings as a palliative nurse.
In her book, Bronnie shares that at the end of their life, the #1 regret people expressed again and again could be summed up in this heartfelt wish:
I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
When I first read that, something inside me stopped. It felt like I’d been shaken awake from a dream that I didn’t even know I was in. I found myself asking…
Am I living a life that’s true to myself and not the life others expect of me?
The answer that came back from deep inside was a soft but resounding NO and I knew something had to change.
I knew I didn’t want to witness my final sunset, knowing I’d lived someone else’s expectations… someone else’s life.
I also knew I was in for a challenge because there was something I was afraid to face even in the deepest recesses of my own mind…
I had no idea what “true to myself” looked like because I didn’t know my True Self.
So, I made it my goal and my purpose to find out.
Over the years, I’ve explored multiple mindset and energetic methods and modalities that helped me dive deeper into my mind, body and soul and I’m happy to say that I’m closer to living a life that’s true to myself now, more than ever before.
And while I’ve invested a significant amount of time, energy and money in my quest to connect with my True Self there’s a simple, powerful technique that’s proved to be a guiding light to my own soul, in ways that I never could have imagined.
I call it the Circle of Sacred Promises and you can try it on your own, at any time (plus it doesn’t cost a dime :-))
Here’s how it works…
You’ve probably heard a lot of spiritual and personal growth teachers and authors talk about “values” and why you need to identify your values if you want to live an intentional life that’s aligned with who you truly are.
The Circle of Sacred Promises is based on the same fundamental idea but it’s a little bit different from traditional values exercises because we’re NOT choosing “traits or attributes we want to be or live by” and listing them out in order of priority.
With the Circle of Sacred Promises, what we’re doing is recognizing and remembering our True Self in our Sacred Promises and then living into those promises.
We’re identifying them from the lens of who we already are from a collection of traits, virtues, elements and experiences, and we’re receiving and radiating the light that shines from within.
The Sacred Promises are sketched or visualized as a circle because each one flows into the next — they’re all equally important in helping you live as your True Self. You don’t need to prioritize them in a list, which is what we do with values.
If any of this sounds intriguing, here’s the simple 3-part process you can use to create your own Circle of Sacred Promises (I hope you try it!):
Circle of Sacred Promises Part 1
Find a collection of words on character attributes, traits, elements, virtues, and experiences. If you’d like to work with my curated list of Sacred Words or use it for inspiration, click here and download for free 🙂
Circle of Sacred Promises Part 2
Find a place where you can have some quiet, uninterrupted time.
Now reflect on moments or seasons in your life when you felt uplifted, inspired, motivated, happy, empowered, brave, anything that made you feel good about yourself, about life, and about the world.
Think about events, experiences, milestones, life-changes when you felt grounded, connected, REAL and when you felt like everything was exactly as it should be.
Allow yourself to feel that energy and allow yourself to be immersed in it, then look at the words in your collection. Let yourself be drawn to the ones that reflect that beautiful energy and write them down, in the shape of a circle (I recommend that you choose no more than 7 words so you’re not fragmented or stretched in too different directions).
You can also take two words and connect them to create a Sacred Promise that’s unique and meaningful to you (one of my Sacred Promises is Empowered Serenity)
Special Note: If you’d like to take your thinking mind out of this process and let the Divine in fully, write out each, individual word you choose from the collection, on a piece of paper. Next, fold the paper (so you can’t see the word). Then, ask the Divine to guide you as you pick your Sacred Promises from the pile of folded paper.
Circle of Sacred Promises Part 3
Now make a promise to yourself that you’ll live by the Sacred Words in your circle and you’ll make decisions and choices by those words and be intentional in how you connect with others, based on your words. The promise here is to love yourself enough, respect yourself enough to live by what’s important to you and to be true to YOURSELF.
My personal Circle of Sacred Promises include words like Kindness, Courage, Magic, and Empowered Serenity (I’ll be sharing more about Empowered Serenity in an upcoming Just Breathe Love Note :-)).
Something important to keep in mind…
If you want to take your Circle of Sacred Promises and make it actionable, turn each word into a question.
For instance, when I need to make an important decision, or when I’m having a difficult conversation, I ask myself…
Is it Kind? Is it Courageous? Does it feel Magical? Am I coming from a place of Empowered Serenity?
My Sacred Promises have helped me make choices and decisions that have led me to the path I am on now…
A path of creating, writing, teaching, learning, loving, sharing, and healing in ways that are profound, transformational, and in alignment with my True Self, not who I think I should be or who others think I need to be… I invite you to do the same.
The Circle of Sacred Promises can change your life if you let it.
When we live by our Sacred Promises to ourselves, we become who we are, and we can start to live a life that is true to who we are…
And when that final sunset arrives, we can close our eyes with no regrets.