I am in an older house--it's the house I lived in when I was 19 years old. There is a gap between the kitchen cabinet and the floor. Through the gap I can see into the underside of the house. I see what looks like a very large rat and it is trying to get into the house. So I venture into the crawl space to shoo it away.
When I get closer, I see that it is not a rat at all, but an opossum. Each time I try to herd it out from the crawl space, it tries to skirt around me to get into the house through the cabinet gap.
At this point, the opossum can no longer get around me, so it comes right up to me and chomps the fleshy part of my hand leaving a huge bite mark.
"Why did you do that?" I ask, incredulous that it would be so bold.
It spoke to me in my own voice: "Because you are in my way!"
What’s in the way?
Odds are it is an unconscious self-limiting belief. And while I may not be conscious of these beliefs that get in the way, I can train myself to look for indicators they are there.
When am I short-tempered, anxious or impatient? When am I afraid?
Some of these indicators are easy to spot, but others are more subtle, and even specific to the circumstance. For example, I know I am “in the way” if what usually interests me feels like a burden, or if I lose my sense of humor or my sense of gratitude.
Luckily, the reverse is true as well. I notice that a regular practice of cultivating gratitude for love and abundance in my life offers the added benefit of allowing me to get out of my own way. I also experience more creativity, joy, abundance, insight and wisdom.