I and You or You and I?

Have you ever looked at those adverts and social media posts for services such as Reiki, Energy Healing, Tarot, Mediumship and so many other modalities that leave you a bit overwhelmed? Something seems a bit off with them and rather than being drawn you find yourself retreating.

I’ve certainly come across a few in my time and quite recently I came across one from a person I used to know that made me realise where so many of us miss the point. In fact, even in this paragraph the quality is present in the term of I.

I is the one we need to watch out for when calling out. It is this energy that calls in our egos and begins to proclaim what amazing things we can do for our clients. Let’s look at an example:

“Hi, I’m a Reiki Master who’s been practising Reiki for over a decade now. I can balance your chakras, restore your energy, give you amazing insights for what to watch out for. I also work with angelic presences as well as direct you with runes and tarot. I can help you truly get back on track.”

Now, those words above are all about me, and whilst I could quite easily fall into the trap of thinking I can do so much for these people, the whole message is very skewed to sales and pulling people in. Doesn’t it also feel very cold, clinical and devoid of feelings and care? It may make me appear arrogant, pompous and even repulsive.

Perhaps it is the fact that we are very much in a society geared towards the self as opposed to the greater good. Growing up we are told to promote ourselves in what we do: job interviews is a good one. You get to sell yourself to your employer and to be humble is seen as a weakness.

What if there was another way? What if we were instead were to turn the emphasis completely around to the person we may wish to work with. It is something that is coming more and more into awareness and let’s go back to that original sales pitch.

“How are you feeling today? So often you can find yourself drained, run down and sometimes lost. Yet perhaps you may find there are ways out there for you to change that? You are your own healer and sometimes we need a pointer to get us back on track. If you’d like to explore that, then please consider this invitation for Reiki to assist you.”

Isn’t the energy completely different here? I doesn’t even get mentioned one and the whole emphasis is on the “You.” Perhaps if we all thought just a little bit differently then a new ripple of empathy and care might just turn into quite a wave of change.

To sum up, look to where you are using the term I, rather You. Awareness, is the first step, the second is to make those humble alterations.