Now we turn to the 4th Reiki principle," Just for Today, I will do my work Honestly."
In the past I would think of this mainly as being ethical in my work. This mediation took me back to self again. When I sat and explored : "how will I do my work honestly today," I was brought again and again to start with being honest with yourself.
What does this mean, being honest with yourself to do your work honestly? To me it means asking yourself who you really are as a being. If we can't be honest with ourselves, how can we be honest with anyone else?
As you sit and explore the vibration surrounding "Just for Today, I will do my work Honestly," begin to ask yourself the easy and hard questions. Who do you think you are? Does this image match what others see? Are you living the life you want to live or the life others think you should? Are you using your gifts to serve your highest purpose and those around you? Are you working just to make ends meat, working to survive, rather than thrive?
When you get up in the morning do you dread going to work? If so how can you do your work honestly? Once at work do you keep your head down and just try to get through the day as fast as possible? In this state are you doing your work honestly? If you have to go to work and dress a certain way but it makes you feel restricted or just not yourself, can you do your work honestly?
As an adjective honest is defined as being free of deceit and untruthfulness or being sincere, while as an adverb it is used to persuade someone of the truth of something. Have you been doing your work from the stand point of an adverb? Meaning have you been trying to convince yourself that you love your job and the how and why of it? With all things connected to Reiki we are asked to start centered in our heart and move from a place of truth. Reiki's energy does not want us to pretend if we haven't yet reached the energy. We are asked to understand why we haven't reached the energy and see how we benefit from our current situation.
This exploration brought me to the understanding this principle isn't speaking about working ethically. We are not asked to judge if we are doing our work from a good/bad or right/wrong way. It is not asking us to weigh ourselves down in duty and obligation. My understanding is when we can come to a place of acting from inner truth we are aligned with a power greater than self. When we are in alignment and harmonizing with this greater power then we will be acting for the highest good of all and there is no question of right/wrong or good/bad.
Think about those people who are truly using their gifts and how easy it is for them to flow through life and how easy it is for them to interact with others. When they work from their gifts they don't need to manipulate others to come to their way of being and because of this they are seen as sincere.
Using ones gifts doesn't have to be grand it just has to be what makes you unique and what moves you to do the best job possible. I know a person whose gift is cleaning other peoples homes. She loves being detailed as she cleans every aspect of a person's home. She wants the toilets to shine and all the dust bunnies out of the corners. When she works, she does it with a smile. She leaves with a sense of satisfactions. Then she goes home and continues making sure her own home is shiny and clean. Now, I, on the other hand, strongly dislike cleaning my own home and would not want to do it for others. My friends laugh at me because I take care to keep my office clean but my home is low on the priority list because of how much time I put into the office. Cleaning is not one of my great gifts, so when I clean I can't honestly say I'm enjoying it. It is a means to an end. Now when it comes to massaging, I can work long hours and not feel depleted because I honestly love me work. Clients always say you must be really tired at the end of the day. My answer is always no, not from massaging. I thank my clients because working with them uplifts me and it allows me to exercise. I joke with them saying they are the reason I don't have to go to the gym weekly (in reality this isn't a joke).
My office is in Portland, Oregon. We recently had a snow storm which slowed our normal functioning. On one occasion a snow day gave me the ability to reorganize and rearrange my office. One of the things I changed was placing my alter which honors my massage teachers, reiki and my clients in my massage room in a more visible location. I had been hesitant to put it in such a visible place as I didn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. The first week back to business after the snow storm clients looked at the alter and questioned had they missed seeing it before. I replied by saying it has always been in the office just not in that visible spot. One person said she was glad I had changed the location because it really had a pleasant feeling. I thanked her and told her of my past hesitation and she said well, "it is part of you so I can't imagine anyone would feel uncomfortable." This conversation occurred while I was exploring this principle and I understood it was the Reiki energy explaining what it meant to work honestly. My alter is similar to the alters you have probably noticed in Thai and Pho restaurants. They are visible and don't inhibit or distract from the eating experience in those restaurants because it is a natural and honest thing for them to do. I now understand it is also a natural and honest thing for me as well.
Doing my work honestly, also brings to mind one of my favorite self care metaphors, we must put our oxygen masks on before helping those around us. We all understand, if we don't put our mask on first and we pass out, we are of no help to our loved ones and others, rather we become a burden. Anytime, I get caught up feeling selfish for taking care of myself first, I try to remind myself of this metaphor. This metaphor is true for the understanding of this 4th Reiki principle; before we can be honest in our work we must first and foremost be honest with ourselves.
If you have been following this Reiki exploration from the beginning you know one of my motivations for starting it was to cleanse my energetic being before starting a physical cleanse. Have you gotten a sense how working through your emotions and how you work in the world can help you clean out your energetic field? Are you gaining an appreciation for incorporating an energetic cleanse before a physical one?
Reading to this point are you thinking about how you will do your work honestly from a different mind set? Will you change the way you work tomorrow?
I invite you to take time to explore for yourself " Just for Today, I will do my work Honestly."
Please feel free to share your insights in the comments below. If you would like to share privately, feel free to email me at 2dolphincolette@comcast.net
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