Tuesday, March 16, 2010

"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken". Oscar Wilde

I mean, really, ain't that the truth, but the truth is sometimes hard to swallow especially when it comes to feeling comfortable in our own shoes. On the one hand, it's easy to do if we've had a pair for a really, long time, or, like my running shoes, once I find a "gem", I tend to buy the same shoe over and over again until it's discontinued and then when that happens, I go in search of a new style as close as possible to the one that worked so well for sooooooo long because it was dependable and "safe".

While this approach works well for running shoes, it doesn't work so well in life.

If we truly are going to be ourselves, because everyone else is taken, we need to love ourselves, and the only way to really do that is to get to know who we are just like anyone outsider whom we would consider loving. Doing anything less, is more akin to a passing infatuation than real love. Doing research, asking questions, investigating and digging deep whether that be through formal counseling, therapy or by way of self-help books and support groups is a map, really, leading to a more loving self - a more authentic and passionate self.

Is this road...this path to self-discovery, self-appreciation, self-respect and self-love a bumpy one? Absolutely.

In the Amish community, it's called "rumspringa". Teenagers are allowed to explore the world outside their community with all it's debauchery and temptations http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=5195105&page=1; however, should they choose this new lifestyle, their families will turn their backs on them. While this is a philosophy I don't agree with, finding it incredibly harsh and far from loving, it does work as a great example here.

Everyone and I MEAN everyone, needs to do things outside their comfort zone. Why? Because how else do we know if we're doing what we're meant to do and in a place where we're supposed to be. The following not only applies to others but ourselves as well.

"If you love something, set it free; if it comes back it's yours, if it doesn't, it never was" - Richard Bach. Why would we offer this grace and kindness to others and not apply it to ourselves?

Setting ourselves free, provides an invaluable opportunity to take what we know and compare it to what really is providing us with knowledge and insight assuring us we're doing what we're supposed to be doing and we are where we're supposed to be. In other words, allowing us to be our true and authentic selves.

Don't remember where I heard this, but I'll share it anyway "Sometimes, we need to leave home in order to find it".

So, go ahead, slip on your most comfy shoes and go for a nice, long walk to somewhere you've never been and maybe, just maybe, you'll learn something new about yourself.

Enjoy!