Do You Have Lightworker Syndrome?

Do You Have Lightworker Syndrome?





Posted by Deus Nexus on May 25, 2013



Reposted from: The Healers Journal.
By Steve Pavlina | Steve Pavlina

One
obstacle that traps a lot of highly conscious people is what Erin and I
call Lightworker Syndrome. This is what happens when someone wakes up
to a higher level of consciousness, but they can’t figure out how to
live on purpose and feed themselves at the same time. Such people have a
lot of trouble staying connected to higher levels of consciousness
while also remaining solidly grounded in the physical world. Many of
them get so frustrated with the experience they become depressed and
have feelings of wanting to give up and just “go home” (i.e. return to
the nonphysical world).


Spiritual connectedness vs. physical groundedness


These troubled lightworkers often feel they must compromise: either
stay connected up top and be totally ungrounded, or lose that higher
connection and become more grounded. But this is a really tough
compromise, so many of them oscillate back and forth, never quite sure
which is the right way to go.

Consequently, these lightworkers either do empty work they don’t
enjoy but which pays OK, or they do purpose-centered work that hardly
pays anything. They end up sacrificing either their purpose or their
income, since it’s very, very challenging to satisfy both at the same
time. But this either-or decision takes a toll in the long run. It’s
hard to stay on purpose if you’re worried about paying the rent, and
it’s hard to generate good income if your work doesn’t inspire you.

The real trap is the either-or belief itself. It’s a mistake to
think you can’t attract abundant resources doing what you love. It’s
also a mistake to think that staying broke is the best way to help other
people. Many lightworkers are so sensitive to the idea of sacrificing
their purpose for money that they figure it’s better to have no money at
all… or barely enough to get by.

As is typical of other lightworkers, I’m very sensitive to the idea
of making money “the wrong way.” I have a strong disinclination — I
would actually call it total disgust — of violating my values to
generate income. However, when you’re faced with financial scarcity and
have to pay the rent or lose your home, it’s really tough to maintain
integrity because under stress you’ll likely lower your vibration and
bring your awareness down. You effectively become a different person.
When your survival and stability are threatened, those become your
priority. Fortunately I haven’t been in this situation for a long time,
but I certainly know what it’s like. It’s pretty darn hard to think
about serving others when you’re behind on your rent, deep in debt, and
you discover a 3-day pay-or-quit notice taped to the door of your
apartment.

I’m not going to tell you the solution is to choose between your
higher connection and your groundedness. As you can probably guess, the
solution is that you need both. But you won’t be able to get there
until you understand why you don’t already have both right now.

Fearing your own power


The reason you can’t maintain your stable connection to Source AND
remain grounded at the same time is that you’re afraid of what it will
mean if you succeed.

There’s a good chance you won’t agree with that statement — I
wouldn’t have agreed with it a few years ago — but please keep an open
mind while I explain why this is so.

First of all, it is possible to stay connected to Source and be
grounded at the same time. This isn’t just some new agey concept —
it’s downright practical.

On the one hand, I have my purpose, my spiritual beliefs, and my
feeling of connection to everyone. When I resonate with those thoughts,
I’m motivated to serve and help people all day long. On the other
hand, I also live in the physical world. I need to provide the basic
needs for myself and my family, which in practical terms means I need an
income. So I can’t be too airy-fairy if it means I don’t have a place
to live. I have to stay properly grounded.

Connectedness + groundedness = synergy


At their core these two sides aren’t really in conflict. They may be
different energies, but they’re not inherently opposed to each other.
In fact, they serve to support each other. The spiritual side provides
abiding motivation. When I feel connected up top, I’m driven. I’m
passionate. I’m energized. And I’m also peaceful. That’s powerful
motivation to do some kind of work — work that could very well help me
become more grounded simply by generating some income. And on the other
side, when I’m more grounded, more physically and financially stable, I
have more freedom. I have a greater capacity. I don’t have to worry
about paying the bills. And that lends itself to the spiritual side
because I have the capacity to devote more time to spiritual pursuits.
So these two energies are naturally complementary. When they work
together, they work synergistically.

Truthfully I can say to you that this is what I experience in my life
as my normal state of being. I feel I have a great balance of
conscious connectedness and physical world grounding. I attend to both
sides.

This did not happen by accident though. It happened by conscious
choice. I really had to stop and do a total life redesign to make it
work. That happened in 2004 before I made the decision to start this
web site.

What will happen if you succeed?


Now this may sound a bit strange, but for me the decision wasn’t as
balanced as I probably just made it sound. I know a lot of would-be
lightworkers are concerned they can’t make a living pursuing their
purpose. I didn’t have that problem though. I felt confident I could
make a living at it somehow. What really held me back was whether I
felt comfortable doing it at all. My real fear was: What’s going to
happen if this actually works? What if I succeed?

Only after I achieved a stable balance between connectedness and
groundedness did I begin to recognize this same pattern in other
lightworkers. At first I figured it was unique to me, but I was wrong
about that. I see the same pattern everywhere now. Whenever I see a
broke lightworker, I invariably see an underlying fear of success. If I
confront the person about it, they will usually resist the notion,
which I completely understand, but the pattern is so strong that once
you see it, it’s undeniable.

The real barrier to achieving the connectedness-groundedness balance
is the limiting beliefs you may have about what will happen after you
achieve this balance. What will realistically happen when you’re
honoring your life’s purpose and making more than enough money to
sustainably do it for the rest of your life?

Well, I can tell you what will happen because I’ve already turned
that page. Here’s what’s likely to happen. You’re going to succeed in a
big way. When you’re doing what you love and generating plenty of
income from it, it creates a positive spiral. Those two sides support
each other. Your purpose drives your actions, your actions drive your
results, and your results produce income. Your income gives you more
freedom and more fuel for your purpose. And the whole thing just keeps
going because once achieved, it’s a stable pattern.

With great power comes great responsibility


This might sound like a good thing. And truthfully it is a good
thing. But I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “With great power
comes great responsibility.” And that is exactly what lightworker
syndrome sufferers fear most. They fear that if they actually succeed,
they’ll have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders.

That fear is what kills their income. The best way to increase your
income is to help more people. In practice it’s not that difficult to
do — IF your beliefs will let you. The desire to reach out and help
more people is what drove me to build so much web traffic. I’ve met
many lightworkers who are able to provide genuine value to others, but
they’re doing so on a very limited basis. When I toss out a few simple
suggestions on how they could fairly easily double their income (or
more) by doubling the number of people they help (without working harder
or longer), the usual response is resistance and excuse-making. I can
see the real answer in their eyes though — they fear what will happen if
they actually succeed. So they keep themselves in a position where
they make just enough to maintain the status quo, but not enough to get
ahead. And if they do somehow make lots of money, they’ll keep
themselves so busy they won’t have the time to seriously think about
their true purpose for being here.

Overcoming fear of responsibility


I ran this exact pattern for many years. The only way I escaped it
was to confront those fears head-on. I admitted to myself that I had
the internal resources to be doing much better, but I was holding myself
back. I knew I wasn’t doing my best, but why not? I wasn’t doing my
best because I wasn’t ready to accept the consequences of doing my best.

If I really did my best, I’d have a bigger impact. I’d draw a lot of
people to me. I’d end up with a lot of responsibility. Scary.

Well, guess what. Those fears were accurate. I do have a lot of
responsibility. Once I achieved the connectedness-groundedness balance
and got that positive spiral going, my results took off. They’re still
taking off. This web site is now getting about 200,000 page views a
day. I’m generating way more income than I need to cover my basic
needs… more than $1000 per day, whether I work or not. I fully expect
this increase will continue spiraling for a long time to come. But I
didn’t reach this point by focusing on getting more and more for
myself. That kind of motivation would have been too weak. My real
motivation comes from a deep desire to make a positive difference in the
world. My passion comes from my purpose, not my income.

However, I couldn’t tap into that motivation until I first overcame
my fear of success. I had to first accept that if I did my very best
and succeeded, I was going to end up with far more responsibility. I
had to become a “vibrational match” for that scenario; otherwise I’d
never be able to attract it and maintain it.

I had to answer those tough questions: Who am I to reach the point
of influencing thousands of people a day, even while I’m sleeping? Who
am I to tell people how to improve their lives? Who am I to try to make
a difference?

Subconsciously I couldn’t handle those questions, so for years I just
maintained my status quo position as a seemingly contented computer
game developer. Occasionally I would journal about them though, but it
wasn’t enough to get me past the underlying fear of success.

Position vs. power


What eventually allowed me to break that pattern was when I looked at
the situation from a different angle. I was thinking about the idea,
“With great power comes great responsibility,” and I noticed I’d been
assuming that my power would increase if I really did my best. In other
words I equated power with position. As my position increased, so
would my power… and thereby so would my responsibility.

At that point I had a revelation that threw me for a loop. What if
power didn’t come from position? If I have the potential to achieve a
greater position, but I’m not pursuing it, doesn’t that mean I actually
do have the power? If I don’t exercise my power, it doesn’t mean I’m
powerless. It just means I’m inactive.

I thought to myself, “Crap! I’ve been thinking all this time that
I’m staving off power (and thus responsibility) by declining to act.
But all I’m really doing is giving up control. If I have the potential,
then I have the power, which means I have the responsibility too,
whether I act on it or not.” Failure to act does NOT relieve one of
responsibility.

It was then that I had an epiphany. I realized I could never escape
responsibility by failing to act. The only thing I could escape was
control. This is why I say you can give up control but never
responsibility. Responsibility is a given.

That realization gave me a good kick in my complacency. Even though I
felt like I was in a relatively powerless position on the outside, in
that moment I finally accepted my inner power. That included accepting
responsibility for that power. And of course by the law of attraction,
once I began resonating with that inner power, it was only a matter of
time before the outer world reflected it. If you’ve been following this
web site for a year or more, then you’ve seen that manifestation
unfolding before your eyes, and you’ll see that process continue over
the next year as well.

Responsibility is a privilege


That thinking process got me out of my ego and past my fear of
success. When I realized I couldn’t escape responsibility no matter
what my external position looked like, it made sense to just accept it.
My fear wasn’t at some distant point in the future — it was already
here and now.

You see… even though my external position may seem more burdened by
responsibility than yours, in truth you have just as much responsibility
as I do. And that’s because you have great inner power just as I do.
Maybe you’ve accepted it, and maybe you haven’t, but the power is there,
and the responsibility it bestows is inescapable.

Even though we’ve probably never met, I feel a deep sense of
responsibility towards you right now. I feel honor-bound to do the best
I can to help you grow —because I can. It may seem like my position
gives me the power to do that, but that isn’t accurate. Power doesn’t
come from position. Position comes from power. Because I have the
power to help you grow, I must help you grow. You may not accept my
help, but that doesn’t make me feel any less responsible to you. I feel
responsible to everyone.

That feeling of responsibility, however, isn’t the burden I once
feared it would be. When I accepted my inner power, responsibility
became a privilege. I’m truly grateful to have the opportunity to help
so many people each day, even while I’m sleeping.

Overcoming Lightworker Syndrome


So what does all of this have to do with overcoming Lightworker
Syndrome? Lightworker Syndrome is a lack of acceptance of one’s power.
That lack of acceptance is what manifests the apparent conflict between
connectedness to Source and groundedness in physical reality. As
within, so without. Your inner conflict manifests in your external
reality. In truth you are simply getting what you’re intending. You
fear your real power, so you silently intend it to remain dim. This
manifests a never-ending series of distractions to keep you preoccupied
enough that you don’t have to think about what you’re really doing —
keeping yourself small because you’re afraid of too much responsibility.

If you recognize you’re suffering from Lightworker Syndrome right
now, I have a lot of compassion for you. Having gone through it myself,
I know how hard it is. But you must recognize you’ll never solve this
problem at the same level of thinking that created it. Realize you’re
the one who’s manifesting the annoying health problems, the “unexpected”
financial crisis that suddenly wipes out your savings just when you
start to get ahead, the unfulfilling relationship, etc. You’re
manifesting all of it because you’re resonating with fear — it’s one
giant distraction. You can hack at the branches all you want, but
you’ll only be spinning your wheels. Whenever you’re ready, you have
the power to turn off those petty problems and stop manifesting them,
but once you do that, you’re going to have to deal with the real issue
of why you’re here. Deep down you know that’s the truth, don’t you?

The major turning point for me occurred when I finally surrendered
and said, “Enough already! I’m done with living small. I’m tired of
dealing with one pointless crisis after another. I know this isn’t what
I came here to do. I don’t know if I can handle what might happen if I
tap into my real potential, but I can’t accept going my whole life
without finding out. So I’m going for it. If I go broke, I go broke.
But if I go this route in good faith, the universe had damned well
better back me up.”

I have to credit the results of the past two years to that decision.
That’s what cured me of Lightworker Syndrome. Once I experienced the
inner shift, I entered that positive spiral where my connectedness and
groundedness supported each other beautifully. Attracting more money
and a larger audience just means I have a greater capacity to give. And
I’m always finding new ways for my connectedness and groundedness to
move into better harmony with each other.

Embracing your inner light


If you consider yourself a lightworker, understand that your real
work is to accept and embrace your inner light. You are meant to shine,
not to be snuffed out. If you feel that life in this physical universe
is dragging you down, it’s because you aren’t yet in vibrational
harmony with your light. The more you fear it, the more you’ll attract
distracting problems that have little or nothing to do with your
purpose. But whenever you’re ready, you can say to the universe, “OK.
I’m ready. I’m going to pursue my purpose with all my heart and soul,
and you’d better back me up.” Once you make a committed decision,
you’ll attract all the help and resources you need. You’ll be shocked
at just how easy it is.

You came here to do some serious good for this planet, so get busy
and go do it. You’re not fooling anyone by standing still. You’re
responsible to do what you came here to do whether you do it or not.
And if you’re going to be responsible, you might as well accept and
embrace the power to do something about it. Staying small serves no
one, least of all you. This planet needs you now, not tomorrow… not
someday. Don’t let us down, and especially don’t let yourself down.

I shall leave you with a quote from Marianne Williamson:

Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we
are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that
most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of
God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing
enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure
around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to
make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some
of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we
unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re
liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates
others.

HJ: Lightworker Syndrome is a very
common issue that affects many otherwise highly conscious and aware
individuals. It has its roots in the distortion and fundamental
misunderstanding of what it means to be spiritually aware and conscious
and can be further compounded by deeply internalized limiting beliefs.
Typical symptoms are a lack of material and physical abundance as well
as a lack of achievement and fear of stepping into ones true destiny.
These go hand in hand, as a lack of one predisposes a lack of the
other. These symptoms can be traced back to a series of limiting
beliefs and fears that are keeping one from reaching their highest
potential at any given moment.

The first belief is that material and physical abundance are
contradictory to spirituality and higher consciousness. This is
entirely false. We are constantly bombarded with examples of wealthy
individuals who are most definitely not spiritually centered/grounded
and so we learn to associate physical and material abundance with lower
consciousness. Correlation is not causation. I can think of a huge
list of highly conscious and spiritually aware individuals with a great
degree of wealth. In fact, it has been my experience that almost all
highly evolved, spiritually aware individuals have mastered this aspect
of their lives/themselves. We are powerful creator beings and when we
step into this power and learn to use it correctly, we can create
whatever we need. Wealth and abundance can greatly facilitate learning,
growth and effectiveness when used properly. Money is neither good or
bad. It is neutral. What YOU do with it, on the other hand, determines
whether it is being used in a spiritually aware way (or not…). Beware
the old illuminati trick which is perpetuated by many unaware and
sometimes well meaning individuals. It is not the money that is evil!
It is the intention behind how it is used! Intention is everything!

The second cause of and contributor to Lightworker Syndrome is
fear of stepping into ones power and embracing destiny (this may stem
from further limiting beliefs, however, addressing these its beyond the
scope of this introduction). To do so requires great courage, focus,
and the acceptance of great responsibility. Most secretly desire this,
but are afraid to access it. We all have beautiful, profound gifts to
give to the world and when we do so, we are infinitely supported by the
universe on the physical and material planes. Abundance is the natural
result of fully embracing and stepping into ones power, bestowing their
gifts upon the world in the process. It is only when we fight, ignore,
or are ambivalent to this fact that we experience lack in all its myriad
forms. The universe is always urging you to express your divine nature
and should you choose to accept your destiny, you WILL be supported.

- Truth



This
is a fantastic article that I’m sure many people will benefit from
reading. This almost seems like a universal issue for Light Workers –
addressing out attitudes about money. Though I agree with everything
that has been written above, I’m going to play Devil’s Advocate for a
moment to bring up a few differing points.

I think too often, as Light Workers, we handcuff ourselves to The Law
of Attraction doctrine, believing we simply receive whatever we put out
into the world, like magic, without any other considerations.
Sometimes our ego refuses to consider that we may have chosen to
experience financial difficulty for a reason, to learn from that
experience, to better understand our relationship and attitudes toward
material wealth. We beat ourselves up if we are not as successful as we
perceive we should be – a measure of success we’ve inherited from the
non-spiritual world. We also tend to ignore the very real obstacles
placed in our path by the world, by the darkness, that does not wish us
to become more connected to Source, or share that experience with
others. All this resistance, both internal and external, adds up to the
fact that change tends to be a slow process, that we are always
learning to experience and appreciate patience. Yes, waiting sucks!
Growth is a balancing act, appreciating where you are and what you
have, while striving to reach a higher, more fulfilling place.

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Thanks to:http://deusnexus.wordpress.com