Recently I have been doing a lot of self reflection (what else is new?), and I am learning a lot from it. Here are some of the lessons I am getting:
- It’s okay to make mistakes. This is something I spent the first two decades of my life trying to avoid. Nowadays, I am much more tolerant of my own mistakes, and, in fact, at times have deliberately put myself into situations where I might make mistakes… because I want to learn. I am much more acclimated to the idea of “failure” as part of the learning process. Also, my constant posting of blogs, videos, pictures and the like has given me ample practice in just putting stuff out and letting it be good enough.
- I am good enough. In addition to letting myself not have to be perfect about everything, I am really starting to gain a sense that I am enough as I am. I struggled with this for years, because of a lingering voice in my head which taunted me, haunted me, and regularly flaunted the reasons why it said I was not enough. It took me awhile to stop listening to this voice. These days I feel more strongly than ever my own ENOUGHNESS. It rocks.
- Success is an inside job. For many years, being the eager-beaver student that I am, I chased after the promise of success offered by various mentors, coaches, workshop leaders, and even authors I encountered. I learned a lot from this process, including gaining valuable insight and wisdom passed along to me directly by such people. Yet perhaps what I learned more than anything is that my success must come on my terms. I have learned the hard way what it is like to try to follow someone else’s path… it doesn’t work. I very much march to my own drumbeat, and every time I have strayed from this, it has only served to remind me. My success comes in me being true to myself, following my bliss, trusting my instincts, and taking the path the feels best for me.
- Happiness is self-acceptance. Overall, I am happy to say… that I am happier than I ever have been. Sure, there have been many moments, even recently, which I would say were not happy, yet overall the trend is looking up. One thing that is helping is that I am learning to love myself as I am, and accept myself as I am. I am choosing to see the blessings of my life, and rather than comparing myself to others, I am learning to focus on making the most of who I am in this life. There is nothing wrong with dreaming of bigger and better things, but to me, it starts with accepting my life here and now.
- It’s okay to have fun. Yeah, in the past I was seriously messed up over this concept. As a teenager, I was probably one of the most serious and therefore miserable kids you could imagine. Somehow I got the idea that growing up… was no fun. I can honestly say that my experiments in living this philosophy… was no fun! Happily, I stopped abusing myself with a no-fun attitude, and life has gotten progressively better and better since. These days, I am having more fun than ever, and I keep allowing myself to explore and do interesting fun things! Hay-yah! (That was meant to be a triumphant karate chop of satisfaction)
- This is it, and I’m satisfied. Life is what is happening while you are making other plans. Or that is what they say. Yet it is definitely happening right now. And like it or not, your life is the way it is, and it is not the way it is not. I am learning to find satisfaction in my life as it is. I am practicing acceptance and being present. These days, it seems I am seeing the gift in every circumstance. I do a lot of catching my mind when it tries to take me off on a not-so-joyous ride of dissatisfaction or wallowing in the past. I return to the present, and see gifts in it. One of the most amazing gifts is being in the moment, without resisting or fighting it.