Jaime, my new friend teaches me about life.

Last Spring I had a 10-minute conversation with a homeless man (Jaime). We met as he woke in an abandoned home after his night’s sleep. This is a home near where I took my dog out for his morning “business” in downtown St. Pete. This is where and how we met.

I’m not sure why, but I felt compelled to share with him how I had been 8 years sober and was just now (at age 58) beginning to own my inherent goodness. . . the very inherent goodness that resides in him.

Jaime shared with me that he had lost his job 10 days ago and didn’t have anywhere to go. He further told me that he volunteers at the local rescue service for dogs and cats. I think he shared this to establish himself as a “good person”. However, I already knew that. I say that as at my very core I know Jaime is inherently good. . . regardless of his inner and/or outer conditions.

This is my core belief. That we are all inherently good. This means him. This means me. This means YOU.

When I told him about my sobriety Jaime shared that he, too, struggled with substance abuse and had been in and out of Alcoholics Anonymous several times. In that moment, I literally saw myself in him and felt great compassion. Not only for him, but for myself as well. I felt it for myself because he looked at me with similar compassion in his eyes. In that moment I could tell he knew that I shared the same struggle that resides in him. One that we share together.

The core struggle can be summed up easily. It is this: we both have a false belief that there is “something wrong with us.” That we are in some way “bad”.

I told him we struggle because we now “live out a script” that think ourselves less worthy of a different life than we currently have. We felt and shared that common truth. It was scary yet incredibly healing at the same time. It’s because in that moment we weren’t alone. In that moment we weren’t believing “the lie”. Instead, we shined a brilliant and burning spotlight on the falseness and silliness of that lie that we ever could have been “bad” at our core.

Exhale.

He shared a bit of his life journey as well, and it was a wonderful exchange. My words flowed easily and felt I was being of service for him. That said, I realized he was also helping me as he allowed me to share the truth that we are all inherently good.

When I shared the inherent goodness message with Jaime, I felt grateful that I could be of service. It also brought a tear to my eye (even as I typed this) that the “shitty stuff” I went through as a child is valuable and can be incredibly supportive to others on their journey.

If felt good to share the truth with Jaime that he is inherently good.

It’s funny, that even one year later I don’t truly believe (100%) that I’m inherently good. Doubts, fear and shame still visit me daily and I struggle with them. It is these feelings (based on a lie and false belief) that keep me from sharing my message more frequently.

Hopefully, the words in this post connect and resonate with you. You must understand that the more you question your false belief about “who you are” it allows you to let the truth in. . . that you are inherently good. Over time it literally will seep into your DNA and reside within you at the cellular level. It will shift not only your thinking about who you are, but your present day experience as well. Yes, it will shift your reality.