The Angel Called "YOU"

Michelangelo looked down at the boy and smiled. "Why," he said kindly, "I'm going to let the angel out."

Not only am I deeply impressed by the artist's perception that the angel already resided in the marble, but I also feel that by chipping away at our own rough edges, the angel within us will also emerge.

What is that angel?

I think it may be simply your unique nature. There is so much taught now in personal development movements and in metaphysics that would have us believe that we are total masters of our own destiny. Indeed, it is a very seductive belief.

Except when it seems not to work.

And then we chastise ourselves for "getting it wrong." Guilt sets in. We beat ourselves up - and try harder. Go to another guru. Find ways to forgive ourselves.

Hmmm. This has echoes of those dogmatic religious ideas that free-thinking New-Agers have supposedly thrown out.

Let's try another approach. How about we start with the fact that there are certain aspects of each of us that we definitely have no control over. (Short of surgery). You are one gender or the other - with all your genetic characteristics down to the colour of your eyes and whether you get to keep all your hair or not. Your nature determines your sexual orientation, how you form sentences when you speak, your body type.

You see, if we create our reality, or are masters of our destiny, there has to be a line somewhere. You did not (consciously) decide to be born, and most of us will resist death with all our might. Yet you and I will all die one day.

Let's return to Michelangelo. He had that particular block of marble to work with. If it was twenty feet high, he could never have let a twenty-one foot angel out. She would have been the colour of the marble. You are what you are. Stop being what other people say you should be. We have tribal fashion, herds of cars, icon hair-do's, desirable body-shapes, respected professions, and "common-sense."

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. But *evaluate.* Spring clean your personality with a critical eye. What do *you* truly believe? What is *your* taste in music, clothes, movies? What diet suits *you*? Cast a critics eye over your life.

And this Spring, you'll let the angel out. The one called *you*!! nnnn