In a world where popular trends have become the most followed example on how to live our lives, it takes courage to redefine the everyday norm and follow our inner guidance. We are bombarded 24/7 with so many messages that try to influence the way we think, the way we feel and the way we behave. Yet, we don’t realize that this is someone else’s opinion. An opinion that comes from others state of mind, personal interests, and view of their life experiences.
We are used to going about our days expressing what we think are our own thoughts, but the fact is, that most of the time, these are only the beliefs of others. Beliefs that we have accepted as our own. When we were kids, we followed instructions based on our parents and society’s beliefs. As we grew older, we adapted some of these beliefs and used them as the blueprints for our lives. Unfortunately, some of these beliefs are what have kept us from moving forward and experiencing something better in our lives. They have stopped us from trying something new, from seeing things from a whole new different perspective and from expanding our life experiences and reaching our greatest potential.
When we accept others' way of thinking, we place ourselves in a relationship of dependency. A place where we are not sure of our own decisions or even of our own self worth. We depend on others to tell us what to do and to give us their approval. We are completely disempowered, at the mercy of other people's fears and limitations. We feel we have no control over what happens to us and try as we may, we are not able to make our life as perfect as we want it to be. This is when we may feel stressed, experience anxiety or feel depressed. All one monster, with different faces. It is like trying to build a beautiful castle with broken pieces of wood.
So, how do we follow the beat of our own drum, how do we connect to our own inner wisdom? How do we ignore what others say and follow our own heart beat? It is not easy to go against others’ well established beliefs. It is like trying to survive on a deserted island.
In the past, those who tried to go against the well established norms of society in a big way, were treated as criminals, ridiculed, persecuted, condemned and killed. Nowadays, in our current society, with social media and other ways of effective communication, our opinions can be known instantly, by many more people than in the past and we have far more influencing power. However, in the majority of countries, people have laws protecting their freedom of speech and expressing their own beliefs, however different they may be from the rest of society, will most of the time, not get them killed or land them in the slammer, but perhaps just get them thrown out of the social media platforms and shunned by of all those, who disagree with them.
But like the salmon swimming upstream or the bumble bee flying. Even when things don’t make sense to others, or our actions don’t live up to other people’s expectations. Even when our beliefs go against society’s well established beliefs, as long as, we know deep in our hearts, that it is the right thing to do, we can make our lives happen in the best of ways and make a positive impact in the world.
Every day we are faced with decisions that we need to make, as we consider the choices that we always have. I always wonder about the popular saying, “I had no choice”, this is really something I don’t agree as being true, as we are always faced with choices, “ e.g. Do I do this or not, do I take that step or not, if I do this what would be the consequences?”. The choices are always there, they may not be what we want them to be, but nevertheless, they are there and it is our decisions that shape the outcomes, not our choices.
The power to decide over our outcomes, puts us in the driving seat of our own lives. When we are faced with situations that are unpleasant, we have the power to change our perspective of the situation. We have the power to change how we look at things, by questioning our beliefs. Are our beliefs our own or someone else’s?, Are our beliefs relevant and based on our own knowledge, experiences and intuition?, Are our beliefs really true?, Are our beliefs serving us for our greatest purpose and that of humanity?.
It is easy to have an opinion based on general consensus, but it is those, who are willing to look at things with an open perspective, are willing to be different and follow their Heart, that are the ones that live their true purpose and ultimately change the world.