Before we address the question of what is personal transformation…
Let me explain how and why we came up with the idea of a website devoted to your personal transformation.
I love self help topics, and have used a good number of powerful products that have helped to change my own life. And I decided to share my experiences.
So, if you want to get right to the meat of that, check out my products page here. (And note: I’ve been personally testing a number of new products, and will be sharing them with you soon!)
Now… when deciding the best way to describe the central theme of CASedge.com, we kicked around numerous ideas. Sure, we knew we had come across some of the most powerful tools on the planet to help give you the “edge” so you could make a commitment to take action so you could realize success in your lives. But for what primary purpose?
Somehow, using the words, “self-development,” “self-help” or “self-improvement” just didn’t resonate with me. These terms seemed terribly inadequate to describe something so powerful.
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Why Personal Transformation?
The idea: Learn how to change your life for the better. This has been a driving force for me. I always wanted more from and for myself…
Then, in a moment of clarity after spending a few minutes in a specific visualization exercise (which I’ll introduce you to elsewhere on this site), it was like I heard a couple of words whispered to me – soft at first, then louder: Personal Transformation.
It was truly a profound moment for me, and I kind of had to sit down and stare out the window for a few moments and repeat the words… “personal transformation” and let them take shape in my head. (By the way, the picture above is the very view I was looking out at…)
I knew that this was the right theme, and here I’ll explain why, along with what the term means to me. I hope it will equally resonate with you as well.
“Self Improvement” or “Self Help” didn’t resonate.
You see, terms like “self improvement” or “self help” seem almost desperate to me. Like we are in some way deficient and need “fixing.” And, honestly, I don’t feel like you or I need “fixing.” I think and believe that if we’re here together on this site, we are feeling like there is “something more” for us in our lives that we are trying to put our fingers on, and simply need a little help to figure out what that “something more” actually IS for us.
Obviously, that “something” is quite different for everyone. For you, it may be that you feel the need to find a more satisfying line of work, or you may feel you aren’t in the best relationship. Maybe you feel that something is missing in your spiritual life. Or your health has been slipping away from you and you want to change that.
The Search Begins…
So, you’ve begun searching for ways to bring about positive change, and you’ve come across concepts such as “The Law of Attraction” which was largely introduced to millions of people through the 2006 movie “The Secret.” (By the way, I wrote another article about the Law of Attraction here… so I won’t spend a ton of time talking about it in this article. Besides, the Law of Attraction is only one small concept and tool when considering a shift as far reaching as the idea of a personal transformation.)
As you searched, and tried to put your finger on what you think is “wrong” with your life, perhaps you came across ideas such as creative visualization, or techniques like meditation, or books and materials by numerous self-help authors. You may have begun to get an inkling that you would be wise to begin looking within yourself rather than outside for answers to your burning questions.
It may be that you began exploring your relationship with “all that is” – maybe you began to question the existence of God; or, if you already felt like God (or Source or Divine Consciousness, The Force, etc) exists, you may have begun to question your relationship with this Divine Source – and how you could begin to work with this relationship.
This, I believe, is where true personal transformation begins to take root and grow.
What IS Personal Transformation?
I believe that personal transformation is a process through which we break down and ultimately dismiss limiting beliefs that no longer serve us (or never did to begin with), and through which we come to a place of utter and complete realization and confidence of who we are – and that we are, in fact, part of a wonderful whole which, without US, would not be whole at all.
Just as the ocean could not be the ocean without all its individual droplets, the Universe – as vast and incomprehensible as it may appear – would be nothing without everything.
Also, the process of personal transformation signals the end of resistance and struggle. As we progress, we learn to work with – instead of against – ourselves. I remember listening to Wayne Dyer speak one day about playing in the pool with one of his daughters. They were singing, “Row, row row your boat, gently down the stream…” and Wayne mentioned how perfectly and simply that little song described the idea of non-resistance. We row GENTLY, and DOWN the stream. We “go with the flow” instead of desperately trying to paddle UP the stream.
Personal transformation is a highly individual process because each of us is an individual PART of the Whole. However, there are bound to be similar experiences among those who seek true change.
Taking Responsibility
For example, taking responsibility for where we are in our lives is an enormous but necessary step for anyone to take if she or he is going to move forward from here. For example, I am where I am because of choices that I have made in my life. If I am divorced (and I have been), it’s not my ex-husband’s fault for the problems we had. Remember, I chose to marry him to begin with. Sure, this is a simplistic example, but it’s true nonetheless.
I recall the first time it occurred to me that I was responsible for my life. It WAS, in fact, after that divorce.
I had begun consciously seeking my own personal transformation, and something I read kind of “slapped me upside the head” when I read that I was responsible for my life. At first I felt a flash of anger… kind of like, “How DARE you blame ME for the way he treated me!!”
But, as I continued reading and gaining an understanding, I realized that I was the one who stayed in a relationship that was clearly not a healthy one. I was the one who thought, “Well, I can change him and make him into a nicer person,” and I am the one who ultimately married him thinking, “Well, once we’re married he’ll realize that I’m a great person and he’ll change…” and on and on.
Once I recognized that I had made decisions that brought me certain results and consequences, I began looking at OTHER places in my life where I had made decisions.
This was incredibly liberating. I no longer saw myself as a victim! THAT in itself gave me a major POWER SURGE! And because of that, I fully believe that understanding the role you have in creating the life you live, well… that’s the first step.
Besides taking responsibility for our lives, I believe the next part is coming to understand the way we relate and interact with the Conscious and Subconscious Mind. We speak about the Subconscious here on this site; however it is important to remember that these are not TWO minds – just two ASPECTS of the ONE mind.
This “whole” is the Divine Consciousness – call it God or whatever you wish; but, I feel that if we can live our lives in true faith that we not only are part of this Consciousness, but that we can also work with and use it in cooperation with the natural laws that govern our Universe, then we are fulfilled, happy, and abundant.
Does this sound like a tall order to believe in? If it does, and yet you are interested in learning more, then you are in the right place.
Some Wise Teachers Along the Way
The wisest teachers have often stated that we don’t have to adhere to any specific “religion” in order to find fulfillment in our lives. In fact, many of us (myself included) were brought up to believe that life was to be an experience of suffering. I have absolutely no idea where, down the centuries, this dogma really came from. It sure didn’t come from someone like Jesus, who never taught that we had to suffer in order to know God or to have a relationship with the Divine.
I have been extremely fortunate to come across and study the teachings of masters such as Paramahansa Yogananda (the yogi who did a great deal to introduce Eastern wisdom to the West), Ernest Holmes (a “New Thought” philosopher who was able to articulate the workings of the Conscious and Subconscious Minds as they relate to the concept of God – he founded the “Science of Mind*” philosophy and faith), Joseph Murphy (who was a Science of Mind minister, and an author who wrote numerous books on learning how to work with the Subconscious Mind in a very “user-friendly” manner), Roy Posner (a contemporary and true friend who introduced me to the works of Sri Aurobindo and his spiritual partner The Mother, and who helped me understand “beyond The Secret”), and many, many others.
If you could see my library (well, actually, you CAN in some of the photos here on this site) and the resources that I refer to again and again, you’d see, besides those mentioned above, Neville Goddard, Bruce Lipton, Joe Dispenza, Deepak Chopra, Napoleon Hill, Charles Haanel, Stephen Covey, Sri Yukteswar, Claude Bristol, Thomas Troward, Genevieve Behrend, Eckhart Tolle, Roy Eugene Davis, Bob Proctor, Zig Ziglar, Lester Levenson, Shakti Gawain, Thich Nhat Hanh, Denis Waitley, Wayne Dyer, and on and on…
These, and other teachers have taught, helped and continue to help millions of people on their own journeys of personal transformation.
Personal transformation is all about you becoming the person you feel, deep down in the deepest part of your heart, that you want to be.
I’m really glad that you found this site. Explore… read… commit… act… succeed. It’s all here for you!
*Science of Mind is not, and has nothing to do with Christian Science (founded by Mary Baker Eddy) or Scientology (founded by L. Ron Hubbard), by the way. I have had people ask me this in the past, and so, I thought I would just mention that here. Science of Mind is sometimes also referred to as “Religious Science.”
