“You need to tear down your walls,” she said. A well-meaning friend who recently experienced liberation and the reconciliation of a relationship was now attributing world-wide miracles to the capability of dismantling both physical and emotional boundaries.
“I’m happy for you and I understand your desire to have everyone take part in your experience. But I’m ok. My walls provide a different kind of freedom.”
Walls are rarely built only for decorative purposes. Instead they are intentional devices used to maintain harmony and balance between things that are both outside the walls that want to enter, and the sacred, tender spaces we nurture within the walls.
Significant emotional events in life are what form this bedrock of our existence. Each memory, interaction, and the rewards or consequences for our behavior are what help create each and every block that builds our walls. They are a part of us and their duty is to watch over and protect our fragility.
To simply tear down those walls would be damaging. They are a part of our character, the iron that sharpened our resolve, the record of our scars from battles fought, and the reminder that we have a right to decide who and what we let into our most intimate space. Our walls are part of us, and part of our story.
For those who have never put in the effort to establish walls, they are left without boundaries to protect their inner-sanctum. For those without that protective barrier, they will often find themselves engaging in battles they were never meant to fight with people who crossed a line, people who should have been stopped by a wall.
Leave your walls intact. They have a higher purpose, but it’s not so you can stay idle behind them. That would have you believe you are isolated and alone. When people feel isolated, it’s often because we have allowed fear to stop us from reaching out and grabbing hold of something new. Idleness in isolation is not the purpose of walls. That type of mentality is what will end up destroying you, which is why some people have the knee-jerk reaction of proclaiming that all walls need to be dismantled. However, when walls are considered with the Light of divine guidance and the fact that all things work together for good, we see their true purpose.
Walls are built so we can learn how to climb. Without them, we would not be able to lift ourselves off the ground. Without them, we cannot build on to our story. As we begin to climb, we gain strength, insight, wisdom, and new perspectives we wouldn’t be able to find any other way.
So, how do you climb your walls? It’s all about deliberate, intentional action. You must:
- Know Yourself. You have to see your past clearly before you will understand what you need to move forward. Respect the walls and honor who you were at your darkest hour knowing you did the best you could. Evaluate where you’ve been, where you are, and what’s been lost. Take time to first identify, and then grieve for and affirm the value of that which was taken from you in the past. This honors and gives value to your innocence, your childhood, your purity, your safety, your need for someone to care for and protect you unconditionally, and your desire to just be loved for who you were created to be – with all the beautiful flaws that make you uniquely you.As you learn more about who you were created to be, identify and confirm the core values on which you stand and from which you will not waver. Reflect on areas where there is room for growth in your life. Discover your gifts, your talents, your purpose, and the passion still burning in your heart. These answers are what will guide you as you continue to climb and build your story.
- Grow Yourself – Circumstances can change without personal growth as a reactive measure, but by being intentional about it, you can proactively bring about the changes you need. Cultivate an environment guided by a growth plan – spiritually, personally, and professionally. It should include setting time aside for your faith, as well as yourself, for self-care, and for gaining knowledge by reading, attending seminars and conferences, joining online communities that post blogs and articles of others who have succeeded in the areas you desire to grow. Look forward to change and new opportunities entering your life, and believe you are capable and worthy of all things good.As you grow, know that everything you need is within you, you may just need to remove some of your clutter – like fear, unforgiveness, bitterness, envy, anger, pride, and other obstacles – they have no value to you and only block your light, energy, talents, gifts, purpose, and passions from shining through.
- Show Yourself – What value is anything if it is not used? Your story gains value by telling it. Show your scars, your vulnerabilities, and your “lessons learned.” Be intentional about becoming a light for others as you Radiate with newfound purpose. You can only be loved to the extent that you are known. Climb your walls, and then use them as a new foundation to step out and be seen for who you are and share the incredible gifts you have to offer the world.
As you get to know yourself, grow yourself, and show yourself to those who need your light, each intentional action not only provides healing from the past, but also provides perspective from which you are able to see more clearly and farther than ever before. With these new vantage points, you will recognize others on similar journeys and can cultivate new connections that help you climb higher still.
In taking this journey, your walls aren’t just walls anymore. Now they are the elevated foundation upon which you find your freedom. As you climb beyond the limitations of your past, you realize it’s not just about success – an accomplishment you do alone – but about significance, an achievement far greater that changes lives as you show others that they too can climb.
When There's a Will, There's A Way 