You Had It All The Time

My friend Slade Roberson from the blog Shift Your Spirits recently wrote an article called "Are You Developing Too Rapidly?" found at http://sladeroberson.com/manifesting/are-you-developing-too-fast.html.


I read the above article just after reading the beginning chapters of a book called "I Had It All the Time" written by Alan Cohen back in 1995. I wanted to share a few quotes from the book in case you are like me and haven't read anything by Alan Cohen.


From the Foreword, on page ix:
"Sooner or later we reach the point where living the truth becomes more important than seeking it. Knowledge, techniques, and experiences pale in the face of riches of the heart. Learning must give way to being."


From page xii:
"You are not a black hole that needs to be filled; you are a light that needs to be shined. The days of self-improvement are gone, and the era of self-affirmation is upon us. It is time to quit improving yourself and start living."



For many years, I saw myself as a black hole wanting to be filled with love, with food, with something so I wouldn't feel so empty. I felt emptiness because, like my parents, I had abandoned myself.


What it took me years to realize and what this book says is, "I had it all the time."

I spent years running here and there, reading this book, watching that video on self-improvement. According to Alan Cohen's book, I didn't have to do any of that searching. I already had it; I just didn't know it. All I had to do is remember who I really am.


In the book "I Had It All the Time," Mr. Cohen talks about self-discovery rather than self- improvement. He says your spirituality isn't your journey. You don't have some place to go; you are already there and always have been. The real you doesn't need improving. You have forgotten the greatness of who you really are in searching for self-improvement when all you really need to do is remember and just be.
Patricia