What is your true, authentic self?

The YOU that most fully reflects the image of God within you.

+ The 1 L[ove]

What if we could learn to recognize our true, authentic self? What if we could even learn to intentionally act from that place, rather than reactively from our fear, shame and anger?

Internal Family Systems Therapy talks about the 8 Cs and the 5 Ps, which you can see in the graphic above. (Within our Infinitum community, we would add One Big L around the entire thing for LOVE.)

These are the characteristics that reflect our deepest God Image/True Self, the place from which we can live and relate most healthily and helpfully to ourselves and to the world around us.

As Infinitum practitioners, we desire to sink deeper and deeper into these life postures & this monthly self-check helps us navigate that exploration.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Infinitum practice, here’s a brief overview of the rhythms

Here’s how it works…

This True Self Check In exists inside the Infinitum discipleship model - a simple collection of spiritual rhythms that invite us into living like Jesus. The assessment can, however, be useful done even on its own. Here’s how:

Pick one of the three Infinitum postures - Surrender, Generosity, or Mission - and set an intention at the beginning of the month to explore it more deeply from your true self.

As you choose your intention, go through the list of 8 Cs, 5 Ps, and 1 L. How are they sitting with you at the moment? Are there some of them that feel like they are thriving in you? Are there others that feel blocked? Are there some that you’d like to focus on especially as you explore the posture this month? Maybe some that you think will be challenging?

Be specific about how you want to explore the posture you’ve chosen to lean into this month. If you’re unsure of how to do this, crowdsource our interactive community where you’ll find a plethora of ideas! Regardless of where the exploration idea comes from, let your Hub, friends, or accountability partners know what you are doing (or, better yet, choose to do the challenge together!).

As you progress through the month, ask yourself how you are engaging the challenge from your true self. Go through the 8 Cs, the 5 Ps, and the 1 L regularly and observe where there is evidence of them in your life, or where they are being hidden or blocked.

You might ask…

“How am I moving towards compassion for myself and for others as I surrender my need to be right?”

“Have my efforts in being anonymously generous this month allowed me to still be playful and patient?”

“Where has my curiosity been sparked as I attempt to love my neighbor better this month?”

Sample Monthly Intentions

- What would it look like to surrender your need to be right? How does that affect your life, and what steps might you take to surrender it?
- Is there any area in your life where you are holding onto an illusion of control? How can you discern this, and what would it look like to surrender it?
- Do you ever find yourself overly concerned with how other people perceive you? What are some steps you could take to surrender this concern?
- What is a privilege or a power that you genuinely hold that you could learn to surrender for the benefit of someone else?
- How can you be generous with your enemies this month?
- How can you be generous with your closest neighbours this month?
- What is the area in your life where you struggle most with generosity: Money? Time? Attention? Patience? How can you learn generosity in that specific area this month?
- How can you be generous in anonymous ways this month? That is, how can you be generous without receiving any outward recognition for doing so?
- If generosity flows out of what we have already received, what do you need to receive in this season?
- Get to know your neighbourhood as well as you can this month. Walk its streets often; get to know people’s names; find out what kind of housing is there; discover what languages are most spoken; learn about the businesses and schools and places of worship and community services close to you; even do some demographic research if you can. Become an expert in the place and people that are closest to you.
- Try to find out how many recovery meetings are happening close to where you live. If there is an open meeting, consider attending one for the month and meeting people in their recovery journey.
- Consider attending gatherings that you would not normally attend. Maybe of a faith that is not your own, or a community group that you didn’t know about before, or a discussion about a social issue you aren’t familiar with. (Attend to learn, not to teach.)
- Look for the “people of peace” in your neighbourhood or even workplace - that is, the people who are open and welcoming to you, and who are willing and able to invite you into spaces and cultures you might otherwise not even know about or have access to.

If you are finding yourself more and more in your true self as you try these monthly challenges, then you are moving in a good direction.

If you are finding yourself less courageous, less calm, less present, less patient, etc…, or discovering blocks in any of those areas, that can lead you to get curious about yourself and to ask some different questions.

(An excellent guide for thinking and acting deeper into this can be found in the Holistic Self-Care Course, available at the Deep and Wide Academy.)