The subconscious mind is a great concealer of all of our good, bad and ugly stuff. Do you know what’s hiding there? Do you confront what’s hiding there, or do you keep it hidden? According to Brian Tracy, author of “The Power of the Subconscious Mind,” “your subconscious mind grows either flowers or weeds in the garden of your life, whichever you plant by the mental equivalents you create.” Hidden deep in our subconscious self, scary things are hiding there, manifesting in the most unpredictable way. Deep down do you know who you are? Does nature or nurture make us who we are? Behavioral scientists say that both biological and environmental factors have influenced and imprinted who we are to one degree or another.
According to Louie Giglio, author of “Goliath Must Fall,” “a tiny seed of rejection can take root and wreak havoc in seasons to come. Before long, we forget God miraculously created us for a purpose and a plan. We forget that he doesn’t ask us to compare ourselves to others or run someone else’s race.” Many of the internal battles we fight are imprinted reminders of past negative life experiences. If left in the dark, the things we hide can become triggers manifesting in how we react to people, situations and circumstances. So, what do we do with the things that are hiding deep in our subconscious self? The healing begins when we name and confront them. Dr. Phil often says, “You cannot change what you do not acknowledge.”
When the subconscious reveals to us what is buried there, that’s the time to acknowledge and confront it. When we challenge distorted ideologies with knowledge, we peel back layers of ignorance and insecurity. Some things in life we cannot change such as our parents, or how we grew up, or a person’s heart. But, what we can change is who we choose to become. Our past doesn’t define who we can become. When we confront things such as hidden racism, hidden self-righteousness, hidden jealousy, hidden fear, hidden hurt, etc., we get to change the narrative in reclaiming our lives.
Just very recently, I had an encounter with a family member whose daughter married outside her race. The family member and I were having a friendly conversation, catching up on life and family. The conversation took a turn when something that was said in a way that made me uncomfortable. I’ve only known this family member to be a selfless, caring and civic minded individual. But what I was hearing was not consistent to their character, implying something deeper was going on. The dialogue that followed was revealing. Together we confronted it and started a new conversation. There is no short cut through pain. Unless we are willing to start the painful conversations, the road to healing will not begin. In the wise words of Solomon, he says in Proverbs 11:14 (AMP) “Where there is no (wise, intelligent) guidance, the people fall (and go off course like a ship without a helm), But in the abundance of (wise and godly) counselors there is victory.”
