Early sunlight filtered through treetops onto Trail A of the Ephrata Bike Park at
Heatherwood. On that late September morning, 2019, I paused with intrigue
surveying this recently created recreational project. Exhilarated by the realization
that the path was leading me upward along the park’s cusp, I inhaled deeply
savoring the tangy fall air. The vantage point afforded a stupendous view of
forest acres below where bike trails traversed the landscape.
An area surrounding one of the trails had formerly been a secluded cove littered
with discarded needles, syringes, soda cans, and snack wrappers. Drug addicts
and homeless folks utilized this haunt as a hangout. Locals had dubbed the site
“Cambodia.” However, now utterly transformed, Cambodia afforded constructive
recreation in trail form.
Intrigued, I recognized how analogous Cambodia was to the symbolic citadel in
my own personhood. Inner critics and banished parts of myself love to hunker
down there. They specialize in critical and judgmental feedback such as:
“You’re incompetent, inadequate, and deficient!”
“You’re all alone—destined to roam a ‘No Man’s Land.’ “
“You need to work harder to achieve a satisfactory spirituality and become
acceptable to the Divine.”
“You lost your identity and will never fit in anywhere.”
With a surge of gratitude, I recognized that I had been graced to befriend my
inner critics and banished parts and introduce them to life-giving pathways —
Trailway Self-Acceptance:
I am enough and okay as I am. Everything I’m searching for already exists within
me.
Trailway Belonging:
I am interconnected. All of life is interconnected. I can sense “home-coming”
whenever I experience beauty and grace.
Trailway Spacious Spirituality:
I am at liberty to be and behold, celebrating a life-
giving spirituality based on unconditional love.
Trailway Secure Flexibility:
I am free from a fixed identity and confident that my
highly sensitive personality is, not only acceptable, but the right constitution for
doing inner work and healing.
In my life coaching practice I focus on empowering coachees to befriend their
inner critics and model for them new ways of interacting. We explore what an
inner critic is, how it is formed, what its function is, and how to befriend it.
Benefits to befriending inner critics include:
--increased internal harmony
--greater self-acceptance and acceptance of others
--an enlarged capacity for authenticity
I invite you to experience a “September Morning” in your own inner landscape.
And, should you desire a tour guide, I’m available to walk with you.
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