The Metamorphosis of an Authentic Spirit: The Awakening to One 'S True Self

By Yvonne Clay

When I made the decision to do early retirement, I took a stand for myself. The stand was that I was going to live an authentic llife and I had no idea what that looked like. I journaled about my process. This book is taken from the journal I kept about that part of my life journey. I surrendered to Spirit and allowed myself to be led.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481710114

Book preview

THE METAMORPHOSIS

OF AN AUTHENTIC SPIRIT

Spirit

The Awakening to One’s True Self

YVONNE CLAY

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© 2013 by Yvonne Clay. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/31/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-1013-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-1011-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019780483

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Butterfly Symbol

Chapter 2 A Move on the Horizon

Chapter 3 Process of Transformation Begins

Chapter 4 Transformation Continues

Chapter 5 What Needs to be Done

Chapter 6 Beginning Experiences of the Move

Chapter 7 Realizations

Chapter 8 New Working Experiences Through Divine Guidance

Chapter 9 Change of Living Space and More Realizations

Chapter 10 More Spiritual Awakenings

Chapter 11 An Awakened Passion

Chapter 12 Living By Faith

Chapter 13 Ending Notes

This book is dedicated to my parents,

Haywood A. and Eunice B. Clay

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my friend, Deborah Smith, who was very instrumental in leading me to the right publisher and the perfect path to find the right editor. She was also great support during a lot of my writing.

Next, I’d like to thank Whit Sheppard for his editing efforts on my manuscript. Being that this was my first time ever writing a book, he was the perfect editor to have.

Lastly, I’d like to thank my family and my friends for their support and encouragement.

Introduction

I’ve always felt that I could write better than I could speak. I started journaling many years ago. Writing always helped me to access my feelings. I’ve always loved quotations. They always seem to open my thinking, which I find mentally stimulating. Intellectual stimulation has long been a great joy for me. Even now, I read more than one book at a time—different types. It seems like writing about my response to life always helps to keep me grounded.

This book looks back on a period in my life where major transformation was taking place as a result of a stand I took in my life and conditions in my life at that time.

Chapter 1

Butterfly Symbol

Consider what God said to Abraham about what he would have to do to claim the Promised Land: He said, It’s already yours, but you have to start a journey away from the comfortable and known, and toward the new and unknown."

—Prayer of Jabez Calendar, 2002

We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

—Joseph Campbell

What the caterpillar thinks is the end of the world, the butterfly knows is only the beginning.

—Unknown

I’ve recently observed butterflies showing up around me—at home, especially. It seemed that I was unconsciously choosing the butterfly symbol without really knowing why. Some of the things I noticed were the choice of a mouse pointer on my computer to indicate that the processor was busy, a totem power stone purchased at a museum shop, a necklace made for me by a friend of mine with a butterfly pin as part of the design and another butterfly pin given to me by someone with whom I worked. Some of these occurrences started to show up as far back as 16 or 17 years ago and others have occurred more recently.

I did some research on the butterfly symbol. I found that it represents transformation and joyful dance, metamorphosis. The dictionary defines metamorphosis as a change of physical form, structure, or substance especially by supernatural means. To wear or to have around you the butterfly symbol is to state your intention to flutter through life in joy. The butterfly teaches us that with patience comes rewards and as long as we keep working and developing ourselves, the final glorious butterfly stage will come.

It seems my Soul or Higher Self has been sending me signals for a while. Something within me was stirring and I was choosing to ignore it and continue on the path that I was already traveling, the comfortable and predictable one. I had occasional thoughts about what it might feel like to be doing exactly what I loved to do. I was partially living my life that way. Outside of my job and sometime connected to my employers, I would volunteer in various venues and for projects doing the things that I loved. I also developed a hobby, painting, which I’ve been doing now for about 33 years. That helped keep me balanced to some degree. But I still did not feel that I was totally living my ‘bliss.’ That, to me, means living in complete joy!

I don’t think it is a general consensus that life is to be lived joyously. The societal consciousness seems to be that life includes some measure of struggle. Struggle really doesn’t have to be in our vocabulary. Struggle exists when we, as human beings, resist what is. In the transformation that I’m about to describe, I’ve watched myself experience struggle a lot because I was not trusting the process, resisting what was happening because I had my own ideas of how things should work out and I was not staying in the present moment. I’ve had to learn to surrender all of my expectations every day. When you’ve been operating in a certain context for more than