Blog #16: The “As Within, So Without” Series Reflection

Greetings and hello to all wherever you may be reading this blog post! I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful day. For those who do not know me, my name is Ray Rogers. I am the senior writer and owner of The R-N-R Hour™. I want to share a quick message with you all. With the completion of the “As Within, So Without” series, I thought it was important to share a post-reflection. Overall, I am incredibly pleased with the warm reception from all of my readers. I really do appreciate it! However, I still felt like an important piece in this series was missing. It took me a while to determine what was missing and then it came to me while I was sitting in my car listening to my favorite song Starman by David Bowie. I failed to mention that it can be extremely difficult to stay consistent with embracing and practicing the phrase “As Within, So Without.”

You are probably asking, “How are you not consistent in embracing and practicing this phrase, Ray? You literally focus the last four months on writing about the topic. You also mention the time during your time off from work studying the origins and the possible utility of this phrase in everyday life.” Well, I will share my situation of not staying consistent with you all. I said in an earlier blog post of this series that the phrase “As Within, So Without” means the following: how we feel on the inside “As Within” impacts our experiences in the world around us “So Without.” Unfortunately, here has been my consistency problem with the phrase. I can start my day in a great mood with the intention of experiencing the beauty this world has to offer, but as the day naturally progresses, I would allow minor things to bring me down. Thus, keeping me in an emotional rut. These “minor” things would usually be a social misunderstanding among a group of people, stressful circumstances at work, or disappointment from a failed attempt to initiate a social interaction. I could not maintain consistent positive feelings and thoughts throughout the day, and I wanted to give up on living in accordance with the phrase “As Within, So Without”.

Just when I had resolved to fail, I had a mind-blowing experience that made me want to continue to embrace and practice the phrase “As Within, So Without”. I will share this mind-blowing experience in a story about a late-night trip to an ATM. It was a Saturday evening, and the sun was setting. I needed cash for a trip that I had planned for the next day. So, I made my way to the closest drive-up ATM. When I arrived, the parking was extremely crowded, and a line wrapped around the building. I will be honest ladies and gentlemen; I was initially angry with this situation because I felt that I did not have time to wait in line. I was already anxious about my upcoming trip and my anxiety and frustration continued to build (“As Within”) while I waited in the parking lot hoping for the line to decrease. But more and more people joined the line (“So Without”). I decided to leave the location. I was so angry. I kept driving and driving. After an hour, I had gone so far without seeing another Bank of America ATM. Eventually, I decided to give up and calm myself down (“As Within”). As I was calming down by thinking positively, I noticed the surroundings were unfamiliar almost like I was in a new city (“So Without”). I started to feel really good about the possibility to find a new location when all of a sudden. I saw at the corner of my left eye a Bank of America ATM that was empty! The lesson from this story is simple: it is extremely important to never give up especially when it comes to improving how you feel about yourself and changing negative behavior. If you keep working with this phrase, you will eventually find your own techniques to maintain consistency in feeling good about yourself. I hope this post-reflection assists you all in staying strong in your journey to master the phrase “As Within, So Without”. Take care everyone, and we are officially done with the series!

MOVING FORWARD

I want to present this opportunity before I close Blog post #16. Do you enjoy the art of writing? Are you interested in the topics of spirituality and philosophy? The R-N-R Hour™ is looking for writers and editors. You can email us at thernrhour@gmail.com to inquire about these positions.

Finally, I look forward to seeing you all on June 6th, 2021, for our new series! We will kick it off with Blog #17: How Negative Feelings and Thoughts Manifested “My Career Suicide”?

Sincerely,

The R-N-R Hour™

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