Did you know that whether your aware of it or not, that there is something within you thats been clawing at you to get out.  A lion in the bushes waiting to pounce, a shark who tastes blood in the water and is ready to bite, an eagle about to snatch a fish out of the water.  This feeling is that something is special about you that wants and deserves to shine out unto the world.

Chances are you’ve felt this feeling ever since you were little but just didn’t have a way to explain it.  Or you knew exactly what it was but downplayed it because of a lack of confidence that you weren’t special in any kind of way.  That is the way I felt about the gifts I were given, that i wasn’t special in any way.  That while it was my little secret, I wouldn’t utilize my skills because they probably weren’t special anyway.  Only recently since trying to dig deeper into myself to find out what is there did I take notice that this strong sense of ambition and desire to be amazing was still there.

In my case it was fear and a strong desire to fit in that caged up the lion in me. With success comes a certain alienation that people around you feel.  A perception that you think that your better than everyone else.  The lion trapped in me wouldn’t die and every little once in a while, a roar would come out of me and I would wonder where the hell it had come from.  After noticing it enough I gave into it here and there to see what it was all about but never taking it seriously.  Being a father now, I see that same little lion cub growing in my son and am fearful that if I keep my lion caged up within me that I would be teaching him that he should keep his locked in himself.  Teaching him that its normal not to live up to your potential.

I believe that everybody, and I do mean everybody is amazing if they just give themselves the chance to be.  If they would just listen to that little voice in themselves that tells them that they deserve better than what they’ve been getting.  That they’re playing small doesn’t help the world in any way.  I believe that they would be happier if they unleash that wonderful beast of ambition and creative skill that we all have caged up within ourselves.

With me, I feared what people would think of me if I acted how I was meant to, if I stopped pretending and started being true to my soul.  I figure that I would rather people love me for who I really am, and not who I pretend to be to make them comfortable.  I think Marianne Williamson said it best:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fears, our presence automatically liberates others.”

-Marianne Williamson

I can just hear the questions being asked now, “I can feel the beast but how do I unlock the cage?”

First I would suggest letting your guard down and going back to zero.  Back to when you knew nothing.  It can be very difficult especially with all of the conforming that we’ve done in our lives.  You’ve got to strip things down to their bare butt-naked truth.  Try the “Why Game” that my son Aden taught me.  It consists of asking yourself why over and over again until you have an answer that you can’t ask why about anymore.  The hardest part of this whole process will be being truthful with yourself and not lazily copping out.  After your all zeroed out, you can just act without thinking.  A better way to say this is to feel instead of thinking.  Your feelings are more more  connected with the beast than your conscious thinking mind ever could be.  Your gonna have to trust yourself, which it in itself is a huge task for a lot of people.

Your feelings are gonna be your compass, if something feels good, then your probably on the right path, if not, you need to stop and reevaluate where your headed.  Be prepared to be scared on this path of self-discovery.  You might find some things out about yourself that you wish you never knew.  Lord knows I did!  But overall it will be worth it.  The truth will set you free!

On this journey, be prepared to face disappointment and struggle but remember that anything worth anything was never easy.  And so it will be with this, just remember to keep at it.  And to trust yourself!

While I can’t come close to being an expert on releasing your inner beast, I sincerely hope that my words have helped you at least start thinking about finding the key to unlock that cage.