Transformation Nation: Or How much transformation does one girl need?

I am rethinking the whole “transforming the world , transforming my life thing ”.

It's everywhere!

"You CAN change your life."
"Transform your life in 10 weeks."
"Change your attitude, transform your life."
"Transform your life so you can live the life you have always dreamed of."
“Secrets to creating true transformation."
It is obvious to all of us when someone has changed- perhaps they lost 100 pounds, stopped drinking, became a vegetarian, went on a healing retreat, joined the Peace Corps, got married.
It's as if the spark we always saw in them was finally lit up.
It was. Something caused that person to remember the truth of who they really were, then decide to choose that truth.

So, I did a little research. What is transformation?
According to the dictionary, transformation is a change from one form to another, which means the essence is still the same, only the form of the essence is different.
When it comes  to personal well-being,is transformation really transformation at all, or is it re-remembering the beauty of who we already are?

Big sigh, right?


Americans are hungry. We consume 24% of the world's energy, 150% times as much water as the rest of the world , 40 times as many calories daily as most of the world.
So it would make sense that the self help market is  a $1 billion industry, and growing. 
We are hungry to be more satisfied.

But we haven't actually taken the deep breath needed to see

 how satisfied we already are, have we?

I am definitely in that category, and I am not ashamed to admit it. I am an American after all. We think big, we think impossible is possible, we are young in our thinking.
As much as I say I am grateful everything I have and am, there are moments when I feel like I could be more, do more, and yes , have more. It's in those moments I am in the danger zone. I forget who I already am.
Which is why I, like so many people I know, have signed up for the transformational programs , read the books, given the talks, done what it takes to "transform myself and my world".
Sure, I have learned a few things along the way from these various authors and motivational entrepreneurs.
 And yet, when I get to the last chapter and put down the book, or turn off the podcast, I am left wandering in the dark, just a little bit.
Why did I fall for it? Their message , subtly, is that they know how to transform me because I am needing transformation, or I must, I think?
Does that sound familiar? A little manifest destiny mindset in the mix? 

They are hungry too. 

 

I think of the yoga principle of avidya- making the unreal real. In that moment I remember that I have been sideswiped by my own hungry ignorance.
I go back to my guy, Y'shua. The one who was reported to say " You must be born again." which means you must be born anew in each breath. 
And the breath He is referring to? The breath of the creation of the world.
I take a deep breath, the kind of breath that hovers over the waters of the newly formed earth.
I am transformed. Or , am I just re-remembering?