Once upon a time, there was a man who was not feeling well. He couldn't pinpoint what his problems were, except a weird "heavy feeling". He felt stuck, stressed out and very unhappy. Despite seeing many doctors & therapists, no one could treat his condition.
One day he saw an ad in the newspaper from a doctor who listed all the symptoms he had. He went to see this doctor and described all his symptoms to the doctor. The doctor asked him when this "heavy feeling" started. He took out a strange instrument with a lens and a bright blue light, and examined the man through the lens. After a minute, the doctor said, "Just as I suspected: you have an advanced case of the WOFRs (pronounced as wofers)".
Of course, the man was now very worried, "What do you mean, I have an advanced case of the WOFRs? That sounds very serious."
The doctor said, "Don't worry, I know how to treat this. Let me show you exactly what WOFRs look like."
He led the man into a mirrored room, and assured him that nothing bad would happen to him. The doctor then left the room, closed the door, and turned on a special blue light, just like the light on the instrument he used to examine the man with earlier.
When the man looked at himself in the mirror, under the blue light, he gasped: "What are those THINGS?!!!" To his horror, he saw many huge ball-like THINGS that were attached to him by heavy chains.
The doctor said, "Those are WOFRs. Those are the thoughts & false beliefs you carry around with you. They are what makes you feel heavy and stuck."
The man almost burst into tears, "Oh my, they are horrible! Is there any cure?"
"Oh, don't worry, it's very easy to treat", the doctor assured him, "I will give you one of those small instruments with the blue light to take home."
The doctor continued, "All you have to do is to shine the blue light on these WOFRs every day, twice a day for 20 minutes. And you will begin to see these WOFRs for what they really are. When you do, they will fall right off of you." So the man went home with his blue light instrument, and for the first time in a very long time he felt a little hope.
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I heard this story from one of Guy Finley's motivational lectures. The WOFRs in the story stands for the "Weight of False Responsibilities". If you are familiar with the metaphysical teaching, you know that our thoughts & beliefs manifest into our own reality. In this story, the false beliefs and false responsibilities manifested into real weights that were chained to the man.
The blue light in the story represents the light of true understanding. It's when we can see our challenges or problems for what they truly are, we can break free from them.
Guy Finley talked about false beliefs & responsibilities such as the need to control everything at all times, to please everyone, to worry about tomorrow (instead of being present) & have everything planned out, to avoid unpleasant feelings/experience at all cost, to make sure that everyone who did us wrong get what they deserve, etc.
I'm borrowing this story to make another point.
You might be wondering by now, "What do you mean by a haunted life?"
Does your life look like a haunted house all year around??? Just like the man in the story, many people are "haunted" by gremlins and ghosts from their past. These ghosts include: negative past experiences & emotional wounds, limiting beliefs, gremlins (inner critics or inner judges), fears (of failure, success, rejection), regrets, resentment, hatred (towards others or yourself), unrealistic expectations, etc. They follow you wherever you go, and stop you cold in your track toward success, happiness and inner peace. The more you try to run away from them or deny them, the bigger and more vicious these ghosts grow. All you could see and feel are these ghosts, and you are either stuck in the past or paralyzed by the worries for tomorrow.
The way to break free from these ghosts is not to run away, deny, or hide from them. The only way you could break the curse is by shining the blue light of true understanding to look directly at these ghosts, and see what they truly are. When you understand the truth about our life is that, we are meant to grow and transcend ourselves, moment to moment, you will be able to see any challenges & problems as opportunities for you to stretch, learn and grow. You will see that whatever happened in the past, or whatever others said about you, is no longer your truth, because you're not that same person you were in the past. Since you're no longer the same person, whatever happened in the past will no longer bind you. You are free to make new choices, take new actions, and adopt new beliefs.
When you can truly understand that, the ghosts will finally disappear. You will be free to be who you really are and live in the present moment -- without the hurt & regrets from the past, or the fear & worry for tomorrow. You will be at peace with whatever happened, with the world, and with yourself.
