New Horizons

How do I begin again? I haven’t blogged since April and it is now the middle of July. How did I allow myself to get side-tracked? Why did I stop? This blog is important to me. I want to help others by sharing my stories. Even if only one person gets something out of it, I need to do this for me! It’s personal. I need to stop allowing the ‘reader over my shoulder’ to inhibit my perceptions and begin to be vulnerable again.

I have long believed that in order to begin again, you need to start. Just do it! As Nike would say. I always liked that message. JUST DO IT! Set aside the fears of criticism and allow the universe to be your guide. The biggy is: stop allowing other people’s opinions of what you are doing to control what you do!

Whose opinion matters to you? Who loves you for being you with all your imperfections? They don’t just accept you in spite of your imperfections but because of them. People who love your imperfections are the people whose opinion of you matters. These are the people whose feedback matters. I don’t think there are a lot of people in this category for me and I think that is okay. Who needs a lot of people anyway? A few–or maybe only one–are all we need. Why do we need to be cognizant of whose opinion matters? I think it is important to receive constructive criticism. Without this we never change and, I believe, there is always room for change. If we look at ourselves honestly and to be truly happy, we need feedback from people that matter. Just to be clear, these individuals don’t have control over us; we can accept or deny their criticism. What’s important is that we have something to work from–something that keeps us on our journey towards authenticity.

Authenticity is BIG for me. I can’t change other people but I can change myself and my own mindset. Sometimes I’m stubborn about that, but I still try. Truth is, not everyone is going to like me; not everyone is going to like you either. I feel I need to be okay with that which isn’t easy sometimes. I try to look at it this way: there are going to be people that I don’t like as well. It doesn’t mean I have to be mean to them and, I guess, I hope that the people who don’t like me aren’t mean either. I can’t guarantee that though because I have no control over another person’s feelings, thoughts or actions. Being authentic only means I have control over my own reactions and I always have a choice about the way I respond. It won’t always be the right way because I’m human. I make mistakes. I misjudge my reactions and I sometimes will regret how I responded. I need to be accountable for that. It is part of being human.

Anyway, I’ve started again. I’m writing, sharing and discovering new things about my human capacity. It’s an exciting and terrifying experience, but I’m practicing. 

peace balance empathy