Healing from Within

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Freedom is your Birthright

• January 4, 2021
• Dr. Dravon James
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Welcome to Healing From Within with your host Sheryl Glick Reiki Master Teacher and author of Life Is No Coincidence: The Life and Afterlife Connection and The Living Spirit and her recently released part of the trilogy A New Life Awaits Spirit Guided Insights to Support Global which share stories of spiritual awakening spiritual communication healing energies miracles and ways to known your intuition or sixth sense for navigating a physical life and finding peace prosperity and happiness. I am delighted to welcome Dr. Dravon James author of Freedom Is Your Birthright which shares ways to find peace each and every day no matter the situation and tips for the holidays which often add extra stress.

As listeners of Healing From Within have come to expect over the years my guests and I share intimate experiences and insights on energy and the combination of forces of life that define our potential to succeed in both the physical and spiritual aspects of living for we are much more than we appear to be and it is only by embracing our soul essence, intuition and Self, that we can thrive in a changing environment and everyday challenges. The duality or separation in many aspects of life disappear as we become truly awakened united within our own life plan destiny and needs and in relationships with others helps us learn how to relinquish bitterness unhappiness and let go of resistance so we can shine through all the challenges of life. We know that separation is only an illusion there to remind us of who we really are.

In today’s episode of Healing From Within Dr. Dravon James author of Freedom Is Your Birthright will share ways to look at family tensions especially during holidays and find ways to relinquish fears and bitterness and find ways to remember what is important and what we wish to really celebrate. We will learn how to let go of resistance which only holds pain and resentment and no path forward to happiness and we will learn how to prioritize so we don’t deplete our energy and natural state of happiness and well being.

Dr. James gives a wonderful quote “Break the rules. Find your freedom. Live your life.” Unknown

Let the call go forth To all the corners of this spinning star Let the call of Freedom be heard We are free, we are God’s family That’s who we are We are brown, black, yellow, red and white We sing a song of freedom in our darkest night We let the flame of freedom be our guiding light Freedom, Freedom, Freedom — woh oh oh oh, Freedom We are every color We are every country We are every creed We are all God’s family Freedom, Freedom, Freedom — oh oh oh oh, Freedom

Lyrics from Freedom by Jack Barnard

Dravon then wrote how she feels about freedom of the soul, “Freedom is your birthright is the first stepping stone on this life long journey towards Every Day Peace. When you finish reading and completing the exercises in this tiny book you will have discovered that your freedom is a precious gift. You will no longer be comfortable with relinquishing your freedom to the trials and tribulations of daily life. You will become more aware of how exercising your freedom in every situation is more beneficial than giving way to, anger, sadness, bravado or any other form of ego activity. Every Day Peace is possible. We are designed to live every day at peace. It is the deviation from this natural design that has caused our emotional upset...off the chart stress levels and the upheaval in every other aspect of our lives. The deviation from a life of every day peace has left us no choice but to embrace an unnatural life of every day chaos. The journey that you have begun, with this first stepping stone, will lead you on the pathway to experiencing peace every day. Peace, defined as; wholeness, completeness, nothing missing, wholeness, nothing broken, totality.

Dravon tells us some ways she has discovered Freedom and gives us her definition of Freedom for everyone finds a different way to describe it.

“Know and believe that everything, before this moment in your life, in fact in the history of the world, has come with the purpose of reinforcing the truth of you. In its most basic form, the truth is that you are free. It is your birthright!

As I write this I am well aware that a casual observer would scoff at the idea that everything about my history reinforces my freedom. As an African American woman, to many, I represent 300 years of slave oppression and the uphill global battle for female equality. Still, regardless of pedigree, you, like me, were born to be free.

This right of freedom is not predicated on someone else’s belief, but is instead given to us as a gift for attending the party of life.

The word freedom means many different things to many people. If you want to have lively conversation bring up the subject of freedom at your next dinner engagement. The idea of freedom evokes passion in all of us. And while most of us would not jump at the opportunity to relinquish our freedom, sadly many of us live a life of self-imposed bondage.

When we speak of freedom we must differentiate between external and internal freedom. External freedom includes broad issues such as political and economic freedom and personal freedoms.

Personal freedom includes things as important as who you choose to marry, your occupation, where you live and smaller details such as what type of vehicle you drive or if you choose to drive at all, what type of clothing you wore today and what you will eat for lunch. Yes, laws and social norms can impact our external freedom; If you decide that you are not going to wear clothing to the office that choice may be met with a pink slip, but for the most part the list of external personal freedoms is extensive.

Internal freedom involves our approach to life. It’s a knowing and understanding that you and the creator of life are the only two who have ultimate control of your life experience. Internal freedom suggest that that you are responsible and have control over how you perceive, act, and react in every life situation.

For the most part, this book discusses internal freedom. But internal and external freedom are not mutually exclusive, they are forever entwined. You will discover that as you increase your conscious awareness and utilization of internal freedom that your external world will improve. It will rise to meet the high standards of your internal world.

Dravon offers an exercise called “Friends & Freedom and suggests that before getting started, name at least three people you know personally who seem to be most free and ask why they seem so free to you.

Sheryl says: People who are free trust themselves and their inner sense of Being…they do not rely on the outside world to validate them but do what they feel is in the best interest of their own personal development. They serve, they love they enjoy life and they play and work joyfully to do the best they can to participate in life and share each day with others.

Dravon says “Freedom is not Free.” As she writes this her mind immediately visits situations in which the body is not free, but please understand that the body is under submission to the physical world. And the physical world is ultimately under the influence of the unseen energies and beliefs that we hold to be true and unchanging. We must first become free in Truth — and then physicality has no choice but to submit to that freedom.

Dravon tells a story of The Art of Listening. She has a very close relation who was sentenced to life in prison. She uses the name Steven. (Frankly, I don’t know if Steven actually committed the crime for which he was sentenced. I never asked him and he never thought to discuss his guilt or innocence with me.) This was his second conviction. He had previously served ten years and during that time our contact was sporadic at best. When Steven was released we attempted to stay in touch, but the rigors of daily life and living in different time zones limited our conversations. He was only out a few years before he was arrested, with a sentence this time of twenty years to life. Needless to say, I was devastated because I knew that Steven had a good heart and, like so many of us, he was allowing fear to choose his path.

We talked a lot more during the early years of his second incarceration and I could hear the invisible tears in his voice, the unspoken plea for change, strength, and understanding in his words. He blamed the system, the country, the circumstances, and life in general. Everything he said was factual, but I knew that Steven was not allowing room for growth. He was not choosing for himself.

Steven was allowing fear to do all his thinking and consequently living the life that fear built instead of the life that freedom allowed. This time he served twenty-six years, but something had changed. As the years crept by, I began to notice that our conversations were different. I should more accurately say; his conversations were different because most of the time I was silent and just let him release. He talked about the same things but his focus had shifted I remember one particular conversation about a new inmate being killed for bumping into someone. This was not the first time Steven had recalled stories of violence. Previously he would have given me the gory blow-by-blow descriptions with vivid passion. If someone who didn’t know him overheard our conversation they would have thought his violently-charged zeal was the ranting of a hardened criminal.

But the art of listening often requires that we hear what is not being said. The earlier conversations, back then, were filled with fear. Fear was choosing his words and his outlook. I must admit that listening to the stories from miles away, tucked safely in my home, often caused me to shudder with fear. He didn’t spare any of the details, and I didn’t ask him to, but at the end of the telling of this specific tale, he said something that I will always remember. Steven said, “As I watched that grown man dying, it occurred to me that he was killed by his choices.”

I had never heard him speak from the perspective of freedom and choices. This was a powerful shift. From that juncture, he began to talk more and more about choosing what he wanted from life. Today, Steven is a free man with all the trials and struggles of trying to re-integrate into society. Still, he daily chooses thoughts, conversations and activities that reflect freedom; physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Sheryl says to Dravon that we are all aware of the political divide in our nation at the present time and all this talk of white privilege identity politics making certain groups victims and others oppressors, and the separation of people by gender race sexual preference economic status religion and so on and so on. Personally as a white Jewish woman I have never felt myself to be unable to do anything. Maybe being in the gifted class when I was younger and dealing with boys on an equal footing, I felt fairly comfortable with all people and as I got older and moved through many different work and social conditions I become at home within myself and physically grounded to my inner soul energy recognizing the importance of personal power and choices to deal with situations as they occurred. As a woman, as a Jewish woman I could have blamed others, but I always made choices to do my best and help myself and others to enjoy life. I taught I studied design and managed my own business and then managed a large furniture business. Finally having great mystical and spiritual encounters, I returned to teaching and then studied energy healing wrote several books about knowing we are more than the physical body and life and have a private Reiki healing practice, still always helping others to awaken to the “Freedom Within” and to the possibilities for success and happiness “In Truth” not only by the standards of others, I think what is going on in our Nation is the severe loss of Personal Freedom and the glorification of Group Think or Mind Wars that destroy our personal freedom. It makes me sad for you and I are sharing the true way to know our eternal life force and it is only when this is known that we will be able to end this destruction by groups that favor their own personal agendas.

Dr. James suggests we begin to do certain exercises to keep a level of balance and peace within. We might begin monitoring our own thoughts and conversations. Changing your internal and external conversations is a daily practice —emphasis on a word practice — and I still occasionally catch myself having conversations that enslave me to fear. But after years of practice I have become more sensitive to the effects of negative conversation. I can feel how negative conversations, internal and external, drag my mood downward and result in a mediocre day at best.

But I desire to have peace all day, every day, so when necessary, I have learned to quickly adjust my conversations. “…the tongue has the power of life & death…” Proverbs 18:21

Dravon shares how to handle dealing with people work or challenges that are uncomfortable for us.

Dravon writes, “Certain people and certain situations: Of course we would love to get along with everyone. Maybe you remember the popular television program, “Cheers.” I loved the theme song lyrics, “…sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name…” Friends and smiling faces make the journey so much more enjoyable, but be aware: when you are making the decision to live free, not everyone will be ready to get on board at the same time. People and situations that make you feel small and insignificant can sap your energy and before long you’re making decisions that represent bondage instead of freedom. Do what you love, love what you do: Early in my career as a pharmacist I relocated to a new town to live closer to some of my college friends. I loved being with them, we were young professionals, making serious money and having a great time, but there was one small detail (that turned out not to be a small detail at all). I didn’t like the work that I did.

Of course, I was grateful and felt fortunate, but the job made me feel small. I discussed my feeling with some of my close colleagues. They agreed that there were some areas for improvement but all in all I had a pretty good job.

I felt that it was the worst decision that I could have ever made. I was convinced that I was not operating in my purpose. Often, I felt physically ill before going to work. Instead of listening to that voice inside that was telling me to try something else, I questioned my work ethic. I scolded myself for not being more appreciative. I listened to everyone else’s assessment, but not my own. I let fear talk me into staying on the job. I reasoned that I had so much student loan debt that it would be foolish to walk away simply because I was unhappy.

Who was I to choose being happy over responsible? It was only after attending a corporate-sponsored weekend event that I discovered that there was nothing wrong with me. I was just wired differently from some of my friends and colleagues.

You can spend a lifetime letting circumstances and people convince you that you don’t deserve freedom or you can stand in the face of circumstances and people and declare that freedom is your birthright, and that you choose freedom.

Well, of course you want to know what I did with the job situation that made me feel small. It didn’t take me too long to see the obvious, “get another job.” I had to try different situations until I found the right fit for my personality and my gifts.”

Sheryl says that she has found that self-investigation and coming to appreciate or love yourself just as you are, makes it possible to deal with all people and situations in a healthier way. In her book The Living Spirit Sheryl wrote, “When following your spiritual path it is critical that you learn to avoid being vulnerable from damaged or toxic people and to emote greater loving feelings to help in their healing. These individuals operate on a low vibrational frequency, and many of them are quite comfortable doing so.

Perhaps they resonated with you at some point in your life, but as you seek your own truth and enlightenment they will keep you stagnant and rooted in old beliefs that you need to shed in order to move to the next level. They can also drain you of the positive energy and joy that is your natural state and God-given right.”

Freedom will take sacrifice, but it will be worth it.

“Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better.” Albert Camus

Understanding the past present and future lead to greater freedom and peace. Dravon wrote, “The Past: Have you ever noticed how much time we spend thinking about the past? Past hurts, mistakes, regrets, missed opportunities. The past shapes way too many of our present-day decisions. It can rob us of our freedom and keep us chained to fear.

You may be thinking that not all past memories are bad. What about those good memories? How could they possibly get in the way of your freedom? But they can. Those good old days can enslave you and snatch today’s bountiful fruit right out of your hands. When you’re focused on the past you spend your time either running from it or trying to recreate it, both of which are wastes of precious time. One of the most productive ways to make great use of your freedom is to determine what you want to achieve with your life. Focus on what you want not what you don’t want.

“There can be no real freedom without the freedom to fail.” Eric Hoffer

Understanding the ego leads us to create greater happiness and joy in life for we know that with each perceived attack from an external source the ego grows in its effort to outwardly defend itself and its right to exist. This increased fighter energy attracts more stressful, argumentative, disagreeable people and circumstances into the individual’s space. In fact, the person will become hypersensitive to these energies. Their day, their week and consequently their life, if they don’t change in some areas, will result in an ill-at-ease environment, in a fight-or-be-killed tension.

Conversely, when the people who have claimed their birthright – their freedom - experience undesirable situations early in the start of their day, they are able to process the event quite differently. They are more apt to see that something appearing unfortunate has occurred. They can allow themselves to feel the anger, the sadness, the aggravation, or whatever emotions arise as a result of the event, without letting the emotion overtake their day — or even their hour. They know that nothing can remove their freedom. They are free to find peace even in the midst of unfortunate events. They understand that there are those days when you must search deeper to connect to joy, but that joy is ever-present. “

You are free to be, and to be at peace. But know this: the being at peace part requires a consciousness that may not be a part of conventional thinking. Fear and worry are the least intelligent responses to any type of unwanted circumstance that appears in your life. Once you begin to use worry and fear to help sort a solution to a so-called problem, it doubles your pain by adding more to fret over. If you came into a dark room, would you attempt to remedy the situation by closing the curtains?

e approach the holidays using all the ideas we have talked about today even when for example your new husband’s sulky teenage daughter is making it clear she doesn’t want to spend the holidays with you or you spend so much time preparing shopping and your gifts and attention are seemingly unappreciated?

There is an effective way and an ineffective way to handle these circumstances. Unfortunately, the ineffective way has become more accepted — even though it prolongs our discomfort. Resisting an unwanted circumstance does not remove it from your life. It actually does the polar opposite. It attracts more of the same. Resisting requires you to hold a firm mental image of it in your mind. It requires that you attach strong emotions to the mental image and that you speak about the unwanted circumstance as much as possible. Resisting provides all the energy needed to breathe life into the circumstance and thus prolongs its presence in your life.

Resistance, like ego, is seeking to protect you, but it is a juvenile approach to peace, in fact, drawing in more of the unwanted.

Mother Teresa once said that she would not attend an antiwar protest, but if there was a pro-peace event she would be interested. This statement is right in line with the correct way to approach those unwanted things that sometimes show up. We can acknowledge them and then put our focus, our energy on what we want to have in our lives. Instead of resisting what you do not want, choose to embrace what you do want

Dravon might like you to remember that In order to live free, you have to be willing to reject some commonly held notions. Here’s a big lie to let go of: multitasking is the mark of a highly effective person. It is not! Multitasking increases the feeling of anxiety.

Resist the temptation to rush, instead take a “one thing in this one moment,” approach to your day. “Be happy for this. This moment is your life.” Omar Khayyam

We want thank Dr. Dravon James author of Freedom Is Your Birthright for sharing in a very concise clear way much about our essential life force and combined physical and spiritual energy which allows us to know that Freedom is Our Birthright and to know we are spiritual beings having a physical life which is the key to living a more authentic positive healthy life journey.

In summarizing today’s episode of “Healing From Within” we have come to realize simple shifts may be chosen to encourage us to live and walk in a peaceful way understanding the needs of all people while encouraging our own personal self development and living the life we were born to live as souls enjoying the physical world. We also learn to remember the divinity within us and the freedom we may enjoy if we move past resistance of any kind, to embrace what calls us to action, for the improvement of ourselves families communities and indeed the world. We move past conventional thinking and what the world might expect of us, to find the truth “within” and to honor love and appreciate life and all living beings without expecting perfection. This state of being allows us to move past judgment blame or criticism and negative thinking which keeps us from our path to healing and love.

Remember life is a series of challenges and experiences that give us the opportunity to grow.

As Dr. Dravon James wrote, I really wanted to be an anomaly to the commonly held view: growth happens in the struggle. I wanted to be a good person, and I wanted to grow without any challenges, without adversity. I’m sure that you already know, that prayer was not answered, not in the way that I prayed it. Yes, I grew just like every other living thing on the planet. I grew through my challenges.

Dravon and I would have you know that the experiences or challenges that come into all of our lives is but a way to know ourselves and the world in a new way a better way than before the event and to continue to move forward with good will and clear intentions to grow in love and personal awareness of the joy of life…growing from the challenge not limited or restricted in any way but accepting and surrendering in forgiveness if need be and in love with life and Spirit.