There's this thing we do...
It kind of makes sense, but then again, it also really doesn't...
But we've been trained by society to do it... so we just do it.
What is it?
It's looking outside of ourselves to know what to do.
It's not a bad thing in essence.
If you need information, you go to a teacher or the internet. If you're sick, you go to a doctor. When you need comfort, you go to your parent or partner or friend.
There’s nothing wrong with it per se. It’s a healthy and beneficial thing to learn and benefit from other people's experience.
But
When we listen to others instead of ourselves and we trust their knowing more than our own, it becomes a problem.
Like when we study what our parents think is best for us even though we long for something else...
Or we follow what the expert says our child needs even though we don’t feel comfortable with it...
Or we do something the way our partner or friend says is correct even though we like it better the other way...
Or we work hard to get the ‘right’ job and live in the ‘right’ place and say the ‘right’ thing to crack the nod of The Right People, even though those things actually make us feel bored or depressed inside...
Here's what you need to know:
You are the only world expert on yourself.
Think about it. Nobody else on this entire planet knows what it’s like to be you.
Only you know how you feel about something.
Only you know whether something is pleasant or exciting or repulsive or painful for you.
You’re the only one who know's what it's like to live inside your body, have experienced your history, what your thoughts and memories, hopes, dreams and desires are…
The people who love you often think they know what’s best for you, but they can only suggest options.
YOU are the one who has the expertise to say which option will be right for you and which will not.
So here's the crazy thing we do.
We give our power of choice away.
We let others tell us what is best for us.
And that’s crazy because why on earth would you let anyone other than the world expert on your life decide what will be best for you?
Madness!
If you loved yourself, what would you turn to your own expertise for now?
