The text below was shared with me by Angel Cellucci, a member of my community, after I asked her a single question. Angel is the Founder of Overbooked Consultants. They help organizations and their employees save thousands of dollars in medical bills while receiving a higher-quality care!
In our recent Dream Team meeting, one of our members asked about creating an ‘elevator pitch.’ I said that I didn’t find it necessary, and instead, I asked, “how would you need to show up in the world that every person you meet will end up delivering an ‘elevator pitch’ for you?”
Serving people selflessly and unconditionally goes far beyond the reach of a 30-second pitch.
Pitching is unnecessary for business, and preaching is unnecessary for the spirit.
“Ahhh, now that’s an interesting question and one that I have been trying to figure out. The existence of a higher power. I have spent my entire life in the ‘church.’ The first 21 years were spent as a Catholic, and the next 29 years were spent in a non-denominational evangelical church. Your “church” was your identity. And if you didn’t know who “you” were, then that meant that you weren’t close enough to god and you needed to pray more.
After all, only ‘Jesus’ can fill that hole in your heart that we all have. Jesus/God was the missing piece that made us whole, who lived and died for us, who gave us rules/commandments to live by, and who, without them, we don’t have a shot in hell of getting into heaven. Actually, without them, hell is where you will be going. How could I have spent my entire life ‘in’ church and yet never felt truly happy, present, still?
Eight years ago, I began to question, to seek. Not the ‘existence’ of god, but to figure out if the white man with the long beard, sitting on a cloud, judging all of us, is really what exists beyond this earthly experience? I had a feeling it wasn’t. An interesting thing happened … the further I got away from organized religion, the more loving, accepting, peaceful, and still, I became. I became HAPPY.
My heart overflowed with love and gratitude for every single thing! BUT … in gratitude … who do I now thank for the sound of a baby laughing, the sunrise & sunset, the butterfly, and all of the beautiful people and experiences in my life? God? Jesus? Devine Energy? Mother Love? I feel like these are all terms that we place into a “box” so we can understand them with our limited human brains. But, as I stepped out of the box society/religion/people have placed me in … I looked back and realized that it was “their” box, not mine. The ‘I’ I was seeking was never in a box. There is no box!
My whole life, I would identify myself within the context of my role. I am a wife. I am a mother, a sister, a friend, a nurse, a woman, and an American. The list is endless. But without those labels, who am I? Who is this ‘I’ I am seeking? Almost with a whisper, I heard my(self) say … I AM.
At first, that was very scary to me since that is the name of god in the old testament. It felt sacrilegious to say that to myself. But every train of thought led me to the same answer … I AM.
Is there a higher source of power? I am a source of power. I am powerful. I AM.
I want to be (fill in the blank). I am (fill in the blank). I AM.
I want people to feel loved when they’re around me. I want to be love. I am love. I AM.
I want to meditate so I can be still. I want to be still. I am still. I AM.
The world teaches (or tries to sell us on the idea) that we need to seek outwardly for everything and that we will only find that which we seek through their products, services, or religion. I’ve come to the conclusion that to “seek” outwardly is an exercise in futility. It is an active mind’s attempt to grasp answers for things it doesn’t understand instead of sitting in stillness long enough to realize that we are the answers to the questions we seek.
Are we afraid of the silence?
Are we afraid of what we may hear?
Are we afraid that we are the answers to everything we seek and everything we fear?
These are questions for another day. I now know who I must thank … I will thank the source.
The source of whatever it was that stirred my soul.
Thank you, little baby, for sharing your giggles with me. Thank you, butterfly, for showing me your colors. Thank you, air. Thank you, breath. Thank you. And … Thank you, Gilad … you have not said a single word this entire time. Thank you.”
Are you curious about the question I asked?
I’ll share something that will better serve you at this moment…
Find happiness and wholeness without having the answer your mind is currently seeking, and you have found the answer to all questions.
I AM, are you?
With heart,
Gil·ad (eternal-joy)
