Seeing the Light

I’m a HUGE Martha Beck fan but her article “Dear Me” in the April issue of O Magazine blew even me away!

You know how things other people do can drive you crazy. But when we you look more closely, more honestly you see that the reason it drives you crazy is because you exhibit some of those very same traits.

I’ll leave the fancy jargon to Martha because I still trip over the word “perseverating.” What I will say is that Martha offers an exercise that can provide you with amazing clarity and insight.

The first step is to write a letter (not meant to be sent) to a person you harbor unexpressed negative feelings for. I know this doesn’t sound new, but read on.

Martha encourages getting in touch with your inner judgmental witch with a “B.” At the top of the page write “Dear whoever your person is” and tell them in no uncertain terms what you think about them “in your lowest moments.” Remember, you aren’t sending the letter. So let it rip!

I had fun with it. It felt liberating to get it off my chest. Then I read Martha’s next instruction “cross out the person’s name and insert your own name!” What? YIKES! Ouch! WOWSER!

Now read the letter as if it is written to you. Martha encourages openness and thoughtfulness instead of defensiveness. Um hum.

Surprisingly, the things I thought I was writing to my friend like “you never have time for me but I see you making time for other people. I feel unloved, uncared for and unimportant” turned out to be true about me!

Right now, I find myself not making enough time for the things that matter most to me, to my higher self. With my friend as my mirror, I could see how much pain it’s causing me. BUSTED!!! It's so true that when you point a finger at another person, four fingers point back at you.

Martha’s process has a fourth step and a lot of other brilliant things. To enjoy every wise, wonderful note of Martha’s brilliant insight symphony I encourage you to read her column in April’s O Magazine. It will inspire you to turn things around and see them in a new light!