One Strong Belief

Day 3: #Trust30 Project

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

Whether it’s the little nudge in my head telling me to put air in my tires while driving home after midnight or the clear voice in meditation revealing where I should focus my attention and why, I am continuously guided. It’s so normal to me I’m often stunned when people tell me they don’t think they have the same experience. Intuition, instinct or insight, everyone has this ability to varying degrees depending on how often you act on the information you receive, but each one of us may call it something a little different. Notice that most of these words start with “in” because the act of reflecting on that which exists internally is the key. Which brings me to my strongest belief. We are living our lives from the inside out, not the outside in. Whatever is happening outside of yourself shouldn’t be the motivator for the way you choose to live your life. Lots of people are trying to tell you what to do, what to buy, what to look like, what to say and when not to say it, who to date, who to marry, how much to make, where to live, what to drive, how to wear your hair and on and on. But all of that is advertising intended to amplify the externally-focused place inside all of us that worries if we will ever be enough. Why would you want to take that in as a truth only to contort your life into a version of a person that doesn’t exist? Living your life from the inside out means always being authentic and accountable even if it means you are no longer cool or interesting. Who’s perception of you is more important than yours? You have to live inside your own skin, so why not love the person you are right now for all the ways in which you are so right rather than nitpicking yourself to pieces with all of the things that aren’t. But don’t listen to me, what do you think is the truth? Go and live that.