How Our Religious and Spiritual Beliefs Shape Our Self-Worth with Lola Wright
— EPISODE 35 —
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In spite of the world’s feedback, are you willing to claim your brilliance, claim your space, call forward who you’re here to be, and determine for yourself that you are worthy?
Think about that for a moment…
That’s a powerful question that today’s guest, Lola Wright, frequently asks herself. Lola is an ordained minister, speaker, and entrepreneur based in Chicago that has a gift for weaving together the mystical and the material. Lola connects through coaching, events, and community with people seeking a greater sense of aliveness.
In this episode, Lola and I have a rich discussion about what religious and spiritual belief systems teach us about self-worth. We also talk about how to work through challenging experiences without attachment or judgment.
“What a radical idea it is to really love and appreciate oneself out loud.”
- Lola Wright
Lola has spent a long time unraveling how much our identities are attached to external metrics, like net worth or sexuality. From culture to religion to education, we all absorb patterns and belief systems that shape our points of view, especially about self-worth.
The world may try to narrate your story in a restrictive way, but it’s your choice whether you collude with that narration or write your own script.
Ultimately, it’s your responsibility to do the internal work, tend to yourself, and be curious about everything in life. Everything is working for you, in your favor, whether you realize it or not.
You are the source of your own salvation. What Lola loves to explore and study is mysticism, which is about the metaphor that can be applied to the human experience. Lola believes that so long as your worth is determined by external circumstances and conditions, you are at the mercy of that judgment. When you are the source of your salvation, you save yourself. Your self-worth, your sense of wholeness, and your essence are what save you. No matter what trauma or hardship you have experienced, your essence has never been hurt, harmed, or hindered. Therefore, you always have the power to save yourself. Isn’t that beautiful?
“Religions have been designed and institutionalized to create a sense of oppression, quite frankly, and that’s different than spirituality,” Lola says. “The moment you realize that you are more than just your finite mind or your thinking mind, you have access to another state or realm of consciousness where you become so much more than, what I call, this “meat suit”.”
The whole goal of the self-worth journey is to dig deep enough to get to the truth, or the essence, of who you are… the same truth that’s been within you since you were born.
What many religions have done is persuade human beings into believing that they are fundamentally flawed so that they continuously outsource their authority to an institution or power structure. What we really need is to nurture a set of beliefs and practices that have our highest wellness in mind. Practicing forgiveness and self-forgiveness is one way we can reconcile with our past experiences and embrace our lives to the fullest.
“It is a radical, radical idea to consider that who you are, as you are, with all of your past, with all of your history, with all your “shortcomings”, is still whole, holy, perfect, complete, worthy of love, worthy of peace, worthy of joy, worthy of abundance.” - Lola Wright.
It’s simple, yet it goes against the grain of our society, our political system, and the beliefs many of us were raised believing. Remember, we’re all doing our best and although we make mistakes and sometimes forget to practice what we preach, we’re STILL worthy.
Extend grace to yourself and one another, today. You deserve it.
About Lola Wright:
An ordained minister with a gift for weaving together the mystical and material, Lola served for many years as the CEO of Bodhi Center, an organization committed to personal transformation, collective awakening, conscious activism, and community-building.
Her work has taken her to stages around the world as a speaker and vocalist, including the Agape International Spiritual Center, TEDx, Chicago Ideas, Harvard Divinity School, and Havana Jazz Festival.
Lola loves nothing more than creating unexpected encounters that shake up what you thought you knew. This includes more than 1000 live events since 2014, including a sold out monthly experience that brought together some of the country’s most prolific artists and thinkers, and thousands of hours consulting with and coaching teams and individuals in their pursuit of something greater.
Today, Lola connects through coaching, events, and community with people seeking a greater sense of aliveness. Among her most impactful opportunities are Our Circle, a digital community that invites members to unleash their unique purpose, and her highly-rated podcast, Set on Fire (formerly Find Your Fierce & Loving).
She is raising four creative, brilliant children with a partner who is always willing to ask what more is wanting to be revealed.
To connect further with Lola Wright:
Visit her website: www.lolawright.com
Follow her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/lolapwright
Connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/lolapwright
Listen to Set on Fire Podcast: www.lolawright.com/podcast
Join Our Circle: www.lolawright.com/ourcircle
Watch the full video interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/llhm6WRmCBQ
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