KEY 5: LIVING OUT LOUD
Step Five: “[We] admitted to God, to ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”
Key Five: “I claim the courage and willingness to share the exact nature of my mistakes with another spiritual being. I am heard with compassion, unconditional love and wisdom. In this loving vibration, clarity, peace and balance are restored.”
How It Works
Secrets keep us sick. They keep us in shame and uncertainty. Secrets lead us to think we are the only ones who have ever had dark thoughts and shameful experiences. They keep us separate and apart from the world, from ourselves and from the possibility of having the spiritual connection we long for. When our guard is down, and the mask that we show to the world slips for an instant, we are ashamed that we have been exposed for who we appear to be, until we are willing to be transparent and honest with someone who can support us in seeing ourselves for who we truly are.
So, in Key #5 we connect with someone who has a conscious understanding of the emotional and spiritual housecleaning we have committed to. We share this with someone who understands how we committed certain acts of “sin”—not because we were bad people, but because we were dis-eased people at the level of our emotional make-up, and we experienced a false sense of separation from God.
The Work
Set your intention by quietly saying to yourself or out loud:
“I surrender my false sense of pride, and allow it to be transmuted into unconditional love and safety. I surrender to the loving nature of Spirit within. I am safe as I share every secret that has caused me shame and produced feelings of unworthiness. I am ready to share every secret that has caused me to hide. What was in the dark now comes to the light. I am ready to hold my head up high, and look the world in the eye as a free, empowered expression of God."
“The love of God embraces all of me—even parts that I am still learning to accept about myself.”
Contemplate
In sharing my secrets with an understanding, spiritually awake person, I am making myself available for the unconditional love of God and other people. I am opening the door to freedom.
My secrets have made me feel isolated from others, and I am now ready and willing to know my oneness with all of life by no longer hiding.
Secrets keep me guarded and block me from my good and my joy.
I am not my mistakes nor am I my actions. My out-of-balance actions are manifestations of a distorted view of God, myself and those around me.
In sharing my secrets in the loving, wise presence of another, I am released from the bondage of self and set free to live out loud, and to live fully.
Journal
What have you been hiding? What is your secret?
How does it make you feel to put your secrets down on paper?
How do you feel about the idea of sharing your deepest, darkest secrets with another? Are you afraid, embarrassed or ashamed?
Are you willing to trust God and the person you have chosen to share your secret with—and know that you are safe and loved?
If not, say the Affirmations from Key #3 and those below until you are. Move through the fear and do it anyway. All is well.
Who are you when you are free from secrets and shame?
Example: Free, calm, confident, compassionate, approachable, unguarded, forgiving, loving, emotionally available, peaceful, empowered, generous
Action Steps
Set an appointment with someone this week to share your secrets with. You want this to be someone you respect as a person of understanding and integrity—someone you feel safe with.
This person could be a spiritually-minded friend, mentor or minister—but you want this person to be someone who is willing to see the part of you that is bigger than your history, your problems or your issues. There are many available communities that can assist you towards finding this person. These include AA groups, spiritual communities and more.
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Author’s note: I have had many people contact me directly to find a good spiritual advisor, and have assembled an ever-growing list of qualified coaches and therapists who can assist you through the various processes assembled here. Please see the “Resources and References” section at the end of this book for more information.
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Key Five: “I claim the courage and willingness to share the exact nature of my mistakes with another spiritual being. I am heard with compassion, unconditional love and wisdom. In this loving vibration, clarity, peace and balance is restored.”
“This journey home is a long and winding road, but I will not get lost. I am led, guided and loved every step of the way.”