Be Naked

By Tim Anderson

This book is a guide for practicing being your authentic self. You are unique and were created perfectly. Learn how to feel and sense your body, along with introspection to quiet the mind and listen to what messages your body may be trying to send from a deeper source within you. Your body often gives clu

• Language: English
• Publisher: OS Press
• Release date: Mar 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798986586045

Tim Anderson

Tim Anderson has done many amazing things in his life. Well, two amazing things. OK, one thing that he did twice. But he’s got nothing on his older brother, who can play his teeth like a xylophone with his thumb. As for Tim, he is a graduate of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he was inducted into both Phi Beta Kappa and the Golden Key National Honor Society. (These honors have yet to pay off.) He has worked as a waiter, a data-entry clerk, a photocopier repairman, a freelance writer, a music editor, a middle-school teacher, and a depressed employee of the state of North Carolina. He dreams of one day being an underwear model/bookie. Until then, he will keep working as an editor and living in Brooklyn with his boyfriend, his cat Stella, and his viola, which he plays in the band Simple Shapes. To learn more about Tim, visit his blog at seetimblog.blogspot.com or the Tune in Tokyo website, www.tuningintokyo.com.

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Be Naked

TIM ANDERSON

Be Naked

By Tim Anderson

Copyright © 2023 Tim Anderson

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

All rights reserved solely by the copyright holder. The copyright holder guarantees all contents are original and do not infringe upon the legal rights of any other person or work. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the permission of the copyright holder or the publisher.

ISBNs:

Paperback: 979-8-9865860-3-8

Ebook: 979-8-9865860-4-5

Printed in the United States of America

Thank you to JETLAUNCH.net for book design, Maggie Oswold, for editing and Petra Zdarska for original cover art.

Published by OS Press - Fuquay-Varina, NC

Dedication

To the All in All, here I am.

To Uncle Pete and Auntie Sarah, thank you for the lifts.

Petra, thank you for gentleness.

Contents

The Introduction

Chapter 1 From Powerless to Powerful

Chapter 2 Are You The Problem?

Chapter 3 Use Your Breath to Feel Better

Chapter 4 Be

Chapter 5 The Lies of Fear

Chapter 6 Living Above The Line

Chapter 7 The Wisdom of Sages

Chapter 8 Made to Move

Chapter 9 Choose Your True Self

The Introduction

I’ll admit it - I am an adult child. I’ve spent my entire life wanting to be Superman, wanting to save the day. That was a total fantasy - not because I can’t be Superman, but because I’ve spent most of my entire life giving my power to others. Worrying about what others might think of me, doing things to please others to the detriment of my own happiness and health, losing sleep about whether or not someone else was mad at me - all these petty things that don’t even matter. I yielded to them. I’ve submitted myself to the judgment of others. I was powerless most of my life because I thought my happiness somehow magically existed in the hands of others.

And when I wasn’t busy giving my power to others, I was busy laying it down at the feet of my circumstances. Did I get the job I wanted? Did I get the car I wanted? Did someone like my article? Did someone hate my presentation? Did they like the class I taught? Wait, they only gave it three stars? Why didn’t they give it five?

It’s my own version of insanity. Created to be Superman, but living as Clark Kent with amnesia. And this is wrong.

I am Superman, and so are you. You are the hero of your story, meant to be the hero of the world. The thing that makes Superman super is that he chooses to use his power. He never gives it away. But even if he did give his power away, he would still be Superman, he just wouldn’t know it, nor would anyone else.

The same is true for you. You are always as you were created to be. Even if you gave your power away, it’s still your power, the power you were born with. It’s the essence of who you are. Giving it to others is only submitting it to others, they can’t truly have your power. It’s simply you choosing not to use it or choosing not to honor it. You are still super, you just wouldn’t know it.

And that would be tragic. Because here you are - wanting to live your best life, to write your best story, to make the world a better place, yet never doing so because you didn’t know you had the choice or the power to do it all along.

If we want to save the world and make it better, we are going to have to take responsibility for our own power. If we want to write our best story, we are going to have to take responsibility for our own power. If we want to reclaim our happiness and learn how to feel good again, we are going to have to take responsibility for our own power.

We have to learn who we are and be our authentic, true selves. We cannot play another character, acting our way through the world and expect to live our best life. And we cannot merely do good deeds for rewards of a better life. Good deeds cannot save us or the world unless they are a consequence of who we truly are. Good actions without essence are illusions. They are like conditional love, which means they can be quite destructive.

Only when we honor our power - our design - can we save ourselves. Until we can do that, the world will hurt in waiting.

There is a phrase in the bible in the book of Romans Chapter 8, Verse 9 that says, All of creation is waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. I’m going to reframe that and say, All the world is waiting for you to realize who you are. That’s the truth of the whole matter.

Most of us don’t know who we are. Unfortunately, everything wonderful hinges on this knowledge. If you want to live your best life, maybe even save the world, you need to wake up and realize who you are. You are the one who is writing your story. No one else is writing your story, which means no one else can make you happy and no one else can save you.

You have to know who you are in your story. It’s no small thing, really. The whole world is waiting for you to discover this.

I want your story to be awesome because I know your story affects mine no matter how remote we may seem to one another. I know you are here to save the world. But it doesn’t matter what I know. It matters what you know.

Chapter 1

From Powerless to Powerful

As I write this, it is 2022. The 2020s have birthed some interesting times so far.

Covid-19, the George Floyd murder, vaccines debates, business closures, The January 6th Insurrection, commercial space flights, Russia’s war over Ukraine, Monkey Pox, mass shootings, gun rights, abortion rights, gender rights, The Oscar Slap, supply chain issues, gas prices, inflation, Top Gun Maverick, Tom Hanks’ F’bomb, recessions, and Stranger Things 4.

Ok, Top Gun Maverick and Stranger Things 4 were pretty awesome. Everything else is just dang-it. These are very stressful times. At times, it seems like the world has gone off the rails and it’s spinning out of control. And at times, it’s scary. Especially when you have no control of what’s happening in the world. If you’re anything like me, it can leave you feeling kind of powerless. I think this is the cause for a lot of our pain.

Life is going to do what life is going to do and when we feel like we are just along for the ride without any say we may feel like we have no power or like we can’t make a difference. Maybe we feel broken or inadequate? Maybe we hurt and we don’t even know why? Some of us bluff. We draw some lines in the sand. We protest, we express ourselves on social media, we vote, we choose our sides. Naturally we always choose the right side, right?

I believe our problem is fear. We are scared. But we are not scared because the world seems to have gone off the rails. I think the world seems to have gone off the rails because we are scared. And that positions us into a perpetual state of unease. None of us like to feel uneasy. But do we know what to do about it?

Many of us search for solutions outside of ourselves to stop the unease and the unrest. We may look for a new job, a new spouse, a shot of bourbon, a puff of smoke. We may decide to run a marathon, go for a bench press record, go on a superfood diet, or try some prescription drugs. Maybe we decide to buckle down and win the approval of others by meeting their expectations of who they think we should be. That’s what we - people - do. We reach for things outside of ourselves that we believe will make us happy, make us whole, make us worthy, or maybe even make us feel numb. But nothing we do works, at least in the long run. We are always left feeling a little uneasy, a little vulnerable, a little restless. Vulnerable. Almost like we are naked standing out in public.

Don’t get me wrong, I think our true strength lies in our vulnerability. Being vulnerable is powerful, the kind of power that can change the world. But feeling vulnerable? I’d venture to say that none of us like