The Saboteur can sweep you under in a heartbeat with its handy dandy broom of self-doubt and reason—robbing your spirit and intent.”
You feel great. You’re poised to shift into new endeavors, to change the direction of your life. Looking ahead you can see the results of this shift: an increased sense of well being. Your intentions are clear, your commitment to action is in place—and then something thwarts the process. That “something” is your Saboteur, a subconscious force, ready to detour you and your path.
The Saboteurs first strike is to challenge every aspect of your intention to expand your life. You take a risk, do things differently, try a new creation, or uncover a part of you that has been squelched far too long. Soon you hear its doubting voices arrive on the scene to undermine your new commitment.
As creator and operator of your safety program, the Saboteur coaxes you to abort change and cling to what is familiar and predictable. It attempts to maintain the status quo of your life at all costs. The Saboteurs motto is: “We’re currently safe, so let’s keep everything as it is.”
The concept of sabotage comes from the Netherlands in the fifteenth century when workers threw their wooden shoes into the wooden gears of the textile looms to break the cogs, because they feared the automated machines would render the human workers obsolete. When your Saboteur feels the threat of change, he throws in his shoes and does his best to muck up the works.
But change is inevitable. The universe is built on the principle of constant flux. We are either the agent of change as our intentions fuel our new actions, or we experience the results of change as events prod us to stretch, grow and move into new arenas.
Choosing a new direction that summons fresh possibilities opens us to greater fields of light. It shifts us into new and unknown spaces where all we have known will be up for examination. Expansion, by its nature, gives space for inspiration, innovation and excitement. And, along with these juicy states comes a dose of trepidation or down right fear.
When life unexpectedly turns onto a new path that we weren’t prepared for, we find our self unearthed. Our safety zone is challenged. What we have relied on is gone and we are shaken to our very bones. Free-falling into foreign territory, our ground quakes with confusion and trepidation.
No matter whether change starts from within or takes us by storm from outside, one thing is sure: our Saboteur will show up shoes in hand. His sabotaging force slows or stops our momentum. Trusting the unknown is too unstable for the Saboteur.
Do you remember a time when you were about to undertake something new? Perhaps you were about to initiate a new creation, take a new job, or commit to a relationship. Your heart and mind felt engaged. You made the choice to follow what felt right and true for you. Fresh excitement ran through you as inspiration grew.
Did you notice uneasiness and voices of reason chime in to cause you to doubt yourself? Those were the tactics of your Saboteur attempting to convince you to avoid the discomfort of change. This sabotaging force is an aspect of your subconscious mind rooted in fear. It is not concerned about your happiness or fulfillment; it is interested in keeping you the same for safety sake.
Reason is the main tool your Saboteur uses to halt growth and keep you stagnant. It comes up with reasonable strategies to remind you that change is dangerous. Even if your world is feeling constricted or is lacking in vitality your Saboteur sticks to the motto: “Stay safe and keep everything as it is right now”.
New actions frequently give us a feeling of going against some force. That force is this Saboteur. Everyday, people make new decisions and take unprecedented actions, and then they pause to say, “This must not be right or it wouldn’t be this hard.” Not true! Changing our ways of being, expanding our gifts and growing is hard work. It takes a huge amount of energy to shift into a new direction.
Even if a situation is abusive or dysfunctional and you know you need to leave it, your Saboteur might chime in to convince you to put up with it. It’s voices come in a variety of tones: “It could be worse.” “Maybe things will get better if I stay here, ” “You will likely re-create the same problems in the next relationship.” “You can’t possibly do this.” “It won’t work!” “Can I survive?” This banter appears intelligent as it tries to convince you to stay in unsafe or impossible situations.
The Saboteur works to control change. Like a big black hole consuming huge amounts of energy, its fight against the inevitable expends your vital life force. It ensnares you in inertia, indecision and indifference. When it is in exceptional form, you may find yourself unable to get out of bed.
This sabotaging mechanism is not born from negativity, although its operation certainly engenders negative thinking. It is all about protecting what is safe and familiar; it is rooted in fear.
While sabotage is often demonstrated through reason, there is another powerful mode to keep you from expanding. The Saboteur is a master at procrastination. It will keep you from starting or completing any task. This is its way of coping with the anxiety that accompanies change.
If your actions are counterproductive or delay your new intention, your Saboteur is most likely at work. It keeps you procrastinating so that you don’t escape its comfort zone.
The Saboteur has another finely tuned mechanism to interrupt momentum in your life. Rather than experience the uneasy feelings that arise with expansion and freedom, it will point you to your familiar addictive patterns in an attempt to modulate your energy—keep you in your comfort zone.
Just as you have taken up a new way of being, it reminds you of the comfort that your past or present addictive behaviors have given you. This undermining force sends you back to the cigarettes, on to create drama, out to shop till you drop, or plops you down to surf the web. The frenetic activity of addiction attempts to keep you from feeling the huge influx of light that opens within you as you raise the state of your life. The Saboteur perceives this as foreign, thus dangerous. It wants you to panic and retreat from everything unfamiliar.
When you stay focused on your intention to change or expand your life, expect your Saboteur to show up to test you. It hammers you with reason, undermines you with doubt, keeps you in procrastination mode or activates addictive tendencies. You can get angry at his drag on your life and waste your energy in frustration. Or, you can accept it for what it is: an outdated program fraught with errors and lies. It is the force holding you back from your potential.
If you are intent on raising the state of your life, become an expert at recognizing the saboteurs program and ignoring its voices Stay committed to your intent, strengthen your courage and do what you set out to do.