One obstacle that traps a lot of highly conscious people is what I call Lightworker Syndrome.
This is what happens when someone wakes up to a higher level of consciousness, but they can’t figure out how to live on purpose and feed themselves at the same time.
Such people have a lot of trouble staying connected to higher levels of consciousness while also remaining solidly grounded in the physical world. Many of them get so frustrated with the experience they become depressed and have feelings of wanting to give up and just “go home” (i.e. return to the nonphysical world).
Spiritual connectedness vs. physical groundedness
These troubled lightworkers often feel they must compromise: either stay connected up top and be totally ungrounded or lose that higher connection and become more grounded. But this is a really tough compromise, so many of them oscillate back and forth, never quite sure which is the right way to go.
Consequently, these lightworkers either do empty work they don’t enjoy but which pays OK, or they do purpose-centered work that hardly pays anything.
They end up sacrificing either their purpose or their income since it’s very, very challenging to satisfy both at the same time. But this either-or decision takes a toll in the long run. It’s hard to stay on purpose if you’re worried about paying the rent, and it’s hard to generate good income if your work doesn’t inspire you.
The real trap is the either-or belief itself. It’s a mistake to think you can’t attract abundant resources doing what you love. It’s also a mistake to think that staying broke is the best way to help other people. Many lightworkers are so sensitive to the idea of sacrificing their purpose for money that they figure it’s better to have no money at all… or barely enough to get by.
As is typical of other lightworkers, I’m very sensitive to the idea of making money “the wrong way.” I have a strong disinclination — I would actually call it total disgust — of violating my values to generate income.
However, when you’re faced with financial scarcity and have to pay the rent or lose your home, it’s really tough to maintain integrity because under stress you’ll likely lower your vibration and bring your awareness down. You effectively become a different person. When your survival and stability are threatened, those become your priority.
Fortunately, I haven’t been in this situation for a long time, but I certainly know what it’s like. It’s pretty darn hard to think about serving others when you’re behind on your rent, deep in debt, and you discover a 3-day pay-or-quit notice taped to the door of your apartment.
I’m not going to tell you the solution is to choose between your higher connection and your groundedness. As you can probably guess, the solution is that you need both. But you won’t be able to get there until you understand why you don’t already have both right now.
Fearing your own power
The reason you can’t maintain your stable connection to Source AND remain grounded at the same time is that you’re afraid of what it will mean if you succeed.
There’s a good chance you won’t agree with that statement — I wouldn’t have agreed with it a few years ago — but please keep an open mind while I explain why this is so.
First of all, it is possible to stay connected to Source and be grounded at the same time. This isn’t just some new agey concept — it’s downright practical.
On the one hand, I have my purpose, my spiritual beliefs, and my feeling of connection to everyone. When I resonate with those thoughts, I’m motivated to serve and help people all day long. On the other hand, I also live in the physical world. I need to provide the basic needs for myself and my family, which in practical terms means I need an income. So I can’t be too airy-fairy if it means I don’t have a place to live. I have to stay properly grounded.
Connectedness + groundedness = synergy
At their core these two sides aren’t really in conflict. They may be different energies, but they’re not inherently opposed to each other. In fact, they serve to support each other. The spiritual side provides abiding motivation. When I feel connected up top, I’m driven. I’m passionate. I’m energized. And I’m also peaceful. That’s powerful motivation to do some kind of work — work that could very well help me become more grounded simply by generating some income. And on the other side, when I’m more grounded, more physically and financially stable, I have more freedom. I have a greater capacity. I don’t have to worry about paying the bills. And that lends itself to the spiritual side because I have the capacity to devote more time to spiritual pursuits. So these two energies are naturally complementary. When they work together, they work synergistically.
Recommended: 11 Grounding Techniques For Empaths to Avoid Apathy and Depression
Truthfully I can say to you that this is what I experience in my life as my normal state of being. I feel I have a great balance of conscious connectedness and physical world grounding. I attend to both sides.
This did not happen by accident though. It happened by conscious choice. I really had to stop and do a total life redesign to make it work. That happened in 2004 before I made the decision to start this web site.
What will happen if you succeed?
Now this may sound a bit strange, but for me the decision wasn’t as balanced as I probably just made it sound. I know a lot of would-be lightworkers are concerned they can’t make a living pursuing their purpose. I didn’t have that problem though. I felt confident I could make a living at it somehow. What really held me back was whether I felt comfortable doing it at all. My real fear was: What’s going to happen if this actually works? What if I succeed?
Only after I achieved a stable balance between connectedness and groundedness did I begin to recognize this same pattern in other lightworkers. At first I figured it was unique to me, but I was wrong about that. I see the same pattern everywhere now. Whenever I see a broke lightworker, I invariably see an underlying fear of success. If I confront the person about it, they will usually resist the notion, which I completely understand, but the pattern is so strong that once you see it, it’s undeniable.
The real barrier to achieving the connectedness-groundedness balance is the limiting beliefs you may have about what will happen after you achieve this balance. What will realistically happen when you’re honoring your life’s purpose and making more than enough money to sustainably do it for the rest of your life?
Well, I can tell you what will happen because I’ve already turned that page. Here’s what’s likely to happen. You’re going to succeed in a big way. When you’re doing what you love and generating plenty of income from it, it creates a positive spiral. Those two sides support each other. Your purpose drives your actions, your actions drive your results, and your results produce income. Your income gives you more freedom and more fuel for your purpose. And the whole thing just keeps going because once achieved, it’s a stable pattern.
With great power comes great responsibility
This might sound like a good thing. And truthfully it is a good thing. But I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “With great power comes great responsibility.” And that is exactly what lightworker syndrome sufferers fear most. They fear that if they actually succeed, they’ll have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders.
That fear is what kills their income. The best way to increase your income is to help more people. In practice it’s not that difficult to do — IF your beliefs will let you. The desire to reach out and help more people is what drove me to build so much web traffic. I’ve met many lightworkers who are able to provide genuine value to others, but they’re doing so on a very limited basis.
When I toss out a few simple suggestions on how they could fairly easily double their income (or more) by doubling the number of people they help (without working harder or longer), the usual response is resistance and excuse-making. I can see the real answer in their eyes though — they fear what will happen if they actually succeed. So they keep themselves in a position where they make just enough to maintain the status quo, but not enough to get ahead. And if they do somehow make lots of money, they’ll keep themselves so busy they won’t have the time to seriously think about their true purpose for being here.
Overcoming fear of responsibility
I ran this exact pattern for many years. The only way I escaped it was to confront those fears head-on. I admitted to myself that I had the internal resources to be doing much better, but I was holding myself back. I knew I wasn’t doing my best, but why not? I wasn’t doing my best because I wasn’t ready to accept the consequences of doing my best.
If I really did my best, I’d have a bigger impact. I’d draw a lot of people to me. I’d end up with a lot of responsibility. Scary.
Well, guess what. Those fears were accurate. I do have a lot of responsibility. Once I achieved the connectedness-groundedness balance and got that positive spiral going, my results took off. They’re still taking off. This web site is now getting about 200,000 page views a day. I’m generating way more income than I need to cover my basic needs… more than $1000 per day, whether I work or not. I fully expect this increase will continue spiraling for a long time to come. But I didn’t reach this point by focusing on getting more and more for myself. That kind of motivation would have been too weak. My real motivation comes from a deep desire to make a positive difference in the world. My passion comes from my purpose, not my income.
However, I couldn’t tap into that motivation until I first overcame my fear of success. I had to first accept that if I did my very best and succeeded, I was going to end up with far more responsibility. I had to become a “vibrational match” for that scenario; otherwise I’d never be able to attract it and maintain it.
Recommended: 4 Things That Happen When You’re A Lightworker (#2 Scares People to Death)
I had to answer those tough questions: Who am I to reach the point of influencing thousands of people a day, even while I’m sleeping? Who am I to tell people how to improve their lives? Who am I to try to make a difference?
Subconsciously I couldn’t handle those questions, so for years I just maintained my status quo position as a seemingly contented computer game developer. Occasionally I would journal about them though, but it wasn’t enough to get me past the underlying fear of success.
Position vs. power
What eventually allowed me to break that pattern was when I looked at the situation from a different angle. I was thinking about the idea, “With great power comes great responsibility,” and I noticed I’d been assuming that my power would increase if I really did my best. In other words I equated power with position. As my position increased, so would my power… and thereby so would my responsibility.
At that point I had a revelation that threw me for a loop. What if power didn’t come from position? If I have the potential to achieve a greater position, but I’m not pursuing it, doesn’t that mean I actually do have the power? If I don’t exercise my power, it doesn’t mean I’m powerless. It just means I’m inactive.
I thought to myself, “Crap! I’ve been thinking all this time that I’m staving off power (and thus responsibility) by declining to act. But all I’m really doing is giving up control. If I have the potential, then I have the power, which means I have the responsibility too, whether I act on it or not.” Failure to act does NOT relieve one of responsibility.
It was then that I had an epiphany. I realized I could never escape responsibility by failing to act. The only thing I could escape was control. This is why I say you can give up control but never responsibility. Responsibility is a given.
That realization gave me a good kick in my complacency. Even though I felt like I was in a relatively powerless position on the outside, in that moment I finally accepted my inner power. That included accepting responsibility for that power. And of course by the law of attraction, once I began resonating with that inner power, it was only a matter of time before the outer world reflected it. If you’ve been following this web site for a year or more, then you’ve seen that manifestation unfolding before your eyes, and you’ll see that process continue over the next year as well.
Responsibility is a privilege
That thinking process got me out of my ego and past my fear of success. When I realized I couldn’t escape responsibility no matter what my external position looked like, it made sense to just accept it. My fear wasn’t at some distant point in the future — it was already here and now.
You see… even though my external position may seem more burdened by responsibility than yours, in truth you have just as much responsibility as I do. And that’s because you have great inner power just as I do. Maybe you’ve accepted it, and maybe you haven’t, but the power is there, and the responsibility it bestows is inescapable.
Even though we’ve probably never met, I feel a deep sense of responsibility towards you right now. I feel honor-bound to do the best I can to help you grow — because I can. It may seem like my position gives me the power to do that, but that isn’t accurate. Power doesn’t come from position. Position comes from power. Because I have the power to help you grow, I must help you grow. You may not accept my help, but that doesn’t make me feel any less responsible to you. I feel responsible to everyone.
That feeling of responsibility, however, isn’t the burden I once feared it would be. When I accepted my inner power, responsibility became a privilege. I’m truly grateful to have the opportunity to help so many people each day, even while I’m sleeping.
Overcoming Lightworker Syndrome
So what does all of this have to do with overcoming Lightworker Syndrome? Lightworker Syndrome is a lack of acceptance of one’s power. That lack of acceptance is what manifests the apparent conflict between connectedness to Source and groundedness in physical reality. As within, so without. Your inner conflict manifests in your external reality. In truth you are simply getting what you’re intending. You fear your real power, so you silently intend it to remain dim. This manifests a never-ending series of distractions to keep you preoccupied enough that you don’t have to think about what you’re really doing — keeping yourself small because you’re afraid of too much responsibility.
If you recognize you’re suffering from Lightworker Syndrome right now, I have a lot of compassion for you. Having gone through it myself, I know how hard it is. But you must recognize you’ll never solve this problem at the same level of thinking that created it. Realize you’re the one who’s manifesting the annoying health problems, the “unexpected” financial crisis that suddenly wipes out your savings just when you start to get ahead, the unfulfilling relationship, etc. You’re manifesting all of it because you’re resonating with fear — it’s one giant distraction. You can hack at the branches all you want, but you’ll only be spinning your wheels. Whenever you’re ready, you have the power to turn off those petty problems and stop manifesting them, but once you do that, you’re going to have to deal with the real issue of why you’re here. Deep down you know that’s the truth, don’t you?
Recommended: Lightworkers, Are You Alone Or Strategically Placed?
The major turning point for me occurred when I finally surrendered and said, “Enough already! I’m done with living small. I’m tired of dealing with one pointless crisis after another. I know this isn’t what I came here to do. I don’t know if I can handle what might happen if I tap into my real potential, but I can’t accept going my whole life without finding out. So I’m going for it. If I go broke, I go broke. But if I go this route in good faith, the universe had damned well better back me up.”
I have to credit the results of the past two years to that decision. That’s what cured me of Lightworker Syndrome. Once I experienced the inner shift, I entered that positive spiral where my connectedness and groundedness supported each other beautifully. Attracting more money and a larger audience just means I have a greater capacity to give. And I’m always finding new ways for my connectedness and groundedness to move into better harmony with each other.
Embracing your inner light
If you consider yourself a lightworker, understand that your real work is to accept and embrace your inner light. You are meant to shine, not to be snuffed out. If you feel that life in this physical universe is dragging you down, it’s because you aren’t yet in vibrational harmony with your light. The more you fear it, the more you’ll attract distracting problems that have little or nothing to do with your purpose. But whenever you’re ready, you can say to the universe, “OK. I’m ready. I’m going to pursue my purpose with all my heart and soul, and you’d better back me up.” Once you make a committed decision, you’ll attract all the help and resources you need. You’ll be shocked at just how easy it is.
You came here to do some serious good for this planet, so get busy and go do it. You’re not fooling anyone by standing still. You’re responsible to do what you came here to do whether you do it or not. And if you’re going to be responsible, you might as well accept and embrace the power to do something about it. Staying small serves no one, least of all you. This planet needs you now, not tomorrow… not someday. Don’t let us down, and especially don’t let yourself down.
I shall leave you with a quote from Marianne Williamson:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
By: Steve Pavlina
You are my inspiration , I have few blogs and rarely run out from to post : (.
I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thanks again!
I like this web blog very much, Its a rattling nice berth to read and get information. “I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.” by Arthur Rubinstein.
After examine a number of of the weblog posts in your web site now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark web site checklist and will likely be checking back soon. Pls check out my web site as effectively and let me know what you think.
CYCO Nozzle With the development of more than 20 years, it has become one of the biggest Spray Nozzle Manufacturer in ASIA.
gundam4d
What’s Happening i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It positively useful and it has aided me out loads. I hope to contribute & aid other users like its aided me. Good job.
Lovely just what I was looking for.Thanks to the author for taking his clock time on this one.
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this web site. I am hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming also. In fact your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my own site now. Actually the blogging is spreading its wings fast. Your write up is a good example of it.
I haven¦t checked in here for some time since I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are great quality so I guess I¦ll add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
Hey, you used to write fantastic, but the last few posts have been kinda boring… I miss your super writings. Past few posts are just a little bit out of track! come on!
vong lo?i euro 2024
whoah this blog is excellent i love reading your posts. Keep up the great work! You know, many people are searching around for this info, you could aid them greatly.
I have learn some good stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how a lot attempt you place to make the sort of excellent informative web site.
There is perceptibly a bunch to realize about this. I assume you made various nice points in features also.
I like reading this blog because it is very inspiring and also this blog really adds insight, don’t forget to visit this blog.
I like the valuable info you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly. I am quite certain I will learn lots of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!
Very fantastic information can be found on blog. “Never violate the sacredness of your individual self-respect.” by Theodore Parker.
Hello my loved one! I wish to say that this article is awesome, nice written and come with almost all significant infos. I¦d like to peer more posts like this .
Dead written subject material, Really enjoyed looking through.
Hi, Neat post. There’s an issue along with your web site in internet explorer, would test thisK IE nonetheless is the marketplace chief and a big component to people will miss your excellent writing because of this problem.
Super-Duper website! I am loving it!! Will be back later to read some more. I am bookmarking your feeds also.
I’ve been surfing online more than three hours nowadays, yet I never discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours. It¦s lovely worth sufficient for me. Personally, if all web owners and bloggers made excellent content material as you probably did, the internet will be a lot more helpful than ever before.
Whats up very cool website!! Man .. Beautiful .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also?KI am glad to seek out a lot of useful info right here in the publish, we need develop more techniques in this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .
Would you be considering exchanging links?
I am not certain the place you’re getting your info, but great topic. I needs to spend a while finding out much more or working out more. Thank you for magnificent information I used to be searching for this information for my mission.
You actually make it seem so easy together with your presentation however I to find this topic to be really one thing that I feel I would by no means understand. It kind of feels too complicated and very large for me. I’m looking ahead on your next submit, I will try to get the dangle of it!
What i don’t realize is actually how you’re not actually much more well-liked than you might be right now. You’re so intelligent. You realize therefore considerably relating to this subject, made me personally consider it from numerous varied angles. Its like men and women aren’t fascinated unless it is one thing to do with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs excellent. Always maintain it up!
I just could not depart your web site before suggesting that I extremely enjoyed the standard info a person provide for your visitors? Is going to be back often in order to check up on new posts
FitSpresso: An Outline FitSpresso is a weight management formula made using five herbal ingredients.