Empowerment and Trust in Yourself

I had a freaky experience in July that left me feeling jangled but gave me an opportunity to get empowered and build trust in myself.

Trust in yourself is the key to building confidence and mastery in manifestation. It’s about being aligned and listening to your intuition and knowing your intentions matter.

So Here’s what happened…

I was walking along a neighborhood street that borders a mountain – woods on one side, houses on the other. I have taken this walk probably several times daily for months, and I love it.

It’s usually a quiet walk and helps me get centered when I’ve got a lot to process. I was walking along, lost in my thoughts when I came around a curve and noticed a large shape standing in the road in front of me. At first, I thought it was a dog… and then I gasped as I realized it was a BEAR. A. full. grown. black. bear. And it was close. Way too close.

Let me pause here to say I am not a woodsy person. I don’t camp. I like this walk precisely because it BORDERS the mountain. I don’t often go up the mountain. I know nothing about what you’re supposed to do when you see a bear. I was wearing Birkenstocks, and to say I was ill-prepared for a moment like this is a huge understatement.

But my intuition clearly said, to turn around and walk away, so I turned around with my heart pounding. I scoped out houses to see if I could run to someone’s door if the bear moved, but it never moved. It just watched me walk away, and I don’t think I realized how freakin’ scary this was until I was safely in my own house. 

Every time I’ve told this story, I’ve been given advice on what I should have done.  I’ve been told that walking away was the worst thing. I’ve been told I should have bear spray, that I should have played dead, that I shouldn’t have looked the bear in the eyes and that I shouldn’t have turned my back. I learned that bears can run up to 35 mph for short distances, and if this bear had decided to come after me, I would have been toast.

At that moment, I remember having this very clear knowing that I was safe – that it was my intention to be safe… and that my intention was really powerful.

I looked up the symbolic meaning of bears and the message that resonated was becoming aware of the power you didn’t know you had. I know my angels were watching over me, but my strong intention to be safe played a huge role in how this unfolded.

This is what I think it means to understand our power as sensitive, intuitive, creative souls… it’s not about force or strength in the physical sense. It’s about recognizing the gentle strength we possess via our intention and learning to direct our will forces in clean, clear and soul-aligned ways. Sometimes this may look to the outside like it's just luck… but maybe it’s just what soul-centered power looks like in action. It’s subtle and miraculous.

I learned this from my bear encounter:  I get to decide. You get to decide too, and I know the more heart-centered souls embrace this, the bigger the light grows on the planet.

Hopefully, you won’t have to meet up with a bear to have this message land. You can just start working with your powerful intentions, trust in yourself and decide that whatever is scaring you… you are safe.