Let’s talk about it! On today’s episode of Wisdom of the Ages, host Ayn Cates Sullivan is joined by spiritual mentor and transformational life coach, Gregory Vahanian. Ayn and Gregory talk about all the things that we are afraid to speak about because of the fear of being judged. Gregory is a firm believer that we cannot always choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we talk about it. Join Ayn and Gregory in this episode to discover how you can authentically express yourself.Â
Warm welcome and blessings. This is Ayn Cates Sullivan, host of Wisdom Of The Ages, where we invite the sacred into modern-day reality. That includes an invitation to be your wild and unique self. Each week I interview a Spiritual Mentor, a Teacher, an Author, or offer my own monologue on spiritual awakening. You can listen to many more upbeat spiritual episodes on superpowerexperts.com/wisdom of the ages. I love to begin each Wisdom Of The Ages episode with a quote. Today I would like to share some wise words by Victor Frankl. And we’re going to circle back around to this quote, but listen closely. It goes like this. “Everything can be taken from a man, but one thing. Love is a man or a woman.” Let me read it again. “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way”
Just ponder that for a minute. Powerful, powerful words. I think it’s an important quote because although we might not always be able to decide what happens to us in life, we can decide how we respond. We can decide how we tell our story, and that’s really what the show is about. We’re going to talk about it. We’re going to talk about these things. Every now and then we’re lucky enough in life to make a friend who stays in our life, weaving in and out every so often, picking up right where you left off last time. My guest today is Gregory Vahanian. We were both students at Columbia University. We met during an acting class in a wild environment. I remember watching him as he did his Elvis routines, later, he’s singing and he’s always had great smiles.
He was always full, incredible, positive, light, and energetic. I think what I really love the most about Gregory Vahanian, is that I feel he’s someone I can just talk to about life. He’s not, I don’t feel judged. I don’t feel like he’s going to. He might challenge me a little bit but in the most loving way. We’ve been really talking about it. We’ve been talking about life on and off for about 40 years now. Oh my gosh. Both of his parents were psychologists and tried as I might, back in my college years, I really couldn’t knock him off his stride. I did try a few times. I was a little wilder in those days.
I don’t know. I might bewilder now. We’re not sure, but anyway, because of Gregory Vahanian, and he’s now a spiritual mentor and transformational life coach, because of him, and his advice, I decided to attend the University of Santa Monica, and I also earned a degree in Spiritual Psychology. Now, I don’t work as a spiritual coach so much, but it was an incredible gift that I gave myself. I’m really glad that I did it. It really freed me up to be able to do this, to be able to do my writing, and to be able to do podcasting and to share in the many, many ways that I, that I share and relate in the world. But I remember walking away from the University of Santa Monica with my diploma and I have a lot of diplomas, but what did I get from this?
What am I taking with me? I remember thinking that I was really grateful that I now had the tools to have a successful relationship and career. Thank you Gregory for encouraging me to do that. I really, really appreciate it.Â
Your welcome. I’m appreciative and honor how you follow and trust and honor your inner guidance, both with USM, but also overall, as you have, since I first met you in that acting class.
I think we both managed somehow, and in all of this, managed true to remain unique characters in a world that doesn’t always support that.
Yeah. I hear from you. I really hear you and it seems thematically relevant when you referenced that, because it seems to me, we’re what we’re talking about in the freedom to choose, and also the spirit of USM, and being authentic and the nature of the authentic self, which is something that is, I know meaningful to you and to me. That we are oftentimes, from very early on in childhood, when we’re not received in our authentic expression with a loving and a gracious welcome, we can start to come up with strategic ways of compensating to get our needs met. There begin the self-alienation and the challenges that seem to vex most of us, I think. I want to say one other thing about that, which is one of the beautiful things that I’ve come to recognize over the years, I certainly see it in you.
I know it about myself. I know it about my beloved spiritual partner and wife, Wendy, and those that I serve as a coach is that we seem to be wired, even though we have this pattern of buying into a conditioned self, a false self, and wearing a mask, for the very reason that you mentioned about not being supported in our uniqueness. We’re also wired, it seems to me, to eventually have this divine yearning inside for authenticity and a greater connection with our innate wellbeing and our unconditionally loving nature, which is at the heart of who we really are.
So, it’s a joy and a great comfort to me, recognizing that to be true, really for all, as far as I can see, and then supporting folks by holding space where the illusion of separation, the illusion that there is something wrong, something broken, something to be fixed fall away. And, we can all begin to enter that portal and cultivate a relationship with that uniqueness. Then, whether it’s the women who run with the wolves, as we were talking about before this show, or whatever wild side or shy side, or confident, empowered side, all the different aspects that, or facets that make up the diamond, that really each of us is.
That’s beautiful. I have to take a quick ad break. I know, when we come back, we’re going to continue this beautiful discussion of the diamond. The diamond, and the many facets of the diamond. Stay tuned, we’ll be right back, and at the very end, we’ll have a personal practice that you might really enjoy. Stay tuned. We’ll be right back.
To listen to the entire show click on the player above or go to the SuperPower Up! podcast on iTunes.
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