Question: I work in a very challenging environment and I haven’t been able to understand why I am so unpopular and unhappy. I am slowly realizing though that the desires I have are earthly and do nothing for my spiritual growth. How can I relax and not worry about what people will think of me?

Answer: The more we awaken to who we really are — see the truth of all our interior possibilities, and the richness of that relationship with the Living Light within us — the easier it becomes to let go of the many former unconscious and dark demands placed upon us by the social environment in which we live. Part of our release comes as we see how misguided we have been ourselves, giving ourselves over to a nature that cares for nothing other than pleasing itself… often at the cost of “punishing” others for failing to go along with our plans and “needs”. As this unconscious character in us comes into the light of our wish to be free, we begin seeing that literally everyone we know lives from the same lower sleeping nature. We know the secret depth of their frustration, fears, and unhappiness because we have now seen it living in us! But, the difference is, we are no longer the victim of these dark states (to the same degree, anyway) and that revelation starts to change everything. A small miracle happens that liberates us from longing for the approval of others: why would we want something, anything, from people around us who don’t even want their own life! Persist with your wish to be free, to help others, and to make an innocent living. God hears the one heart that holds onto this wish.