| In Their Own Words | ||||
"If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means, keep moving..."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
| A Power That Comes With Knowing | |
|
So, obviously I am back - and not just with a progress report, but with a 'lesson' piece. And today it is this: There is power that comes from knowing how things are. Yes, I know some may consider it obvious. And yet. This lesson goes two ways: * Looking inwards: Another baby courtesan already pointed out that not many people, and not often, dare to really look at themselves. Ourselves. In the mirror - either literally or in terms of self-analysis. But it is very important. Because yes, we all have tried to overcome things in the past, and each of us has come up with explanations why it didn't work before. Consciously working around those explanations, around those blocks, is important. But in the long run, it is also important to identify why they are there in the first place. That way you can focus on the reasons and heal yourself, and be able to take on future challenges more boldly and with higher chances of success! And it is perfectly all right to work out those issues with others. Sometimes, we aren't able to see things clearly when looking at ourselves. And questions lead there. Because, while the initial questions-and-answers are important... They aren't the ultimate goal. Actually, they are the beginning of the journey. Which I don't think is new to any of us here, I've seen it in all the posts. To one degree or another, we're all digging deeper. And even the awareness alone is enough. Even though it might not be a fun thing, the knowing. Or even the learning. But then comes the other part to this: Once I read a quote, "you cannot change yourself unless you love yourself as you are." That seemed a little paradoxical and non-sensical at the time, but the more I've observed through the years, the more true does it seem. Only when we love and forgive ourselves do we enable ourselves to move forward. (Very tiny and specific example - slipping up on the food commitments. That happens. What works, though, is accepting it and going back to the commitment.) But to love ourselves truly, we do need to know ourselves. Imperfect, erroneous as we are. It's all right. It's human to err. We're worthy of love - and not despite the mistakes, nor because of them - but complete with them. Worthy of the love of others; and most of all, worthy of our love for ourselves. * Looking outwards: Homo Sapiens is a social animal. Try as we might, that fact remains true. No matter how much we isolate ourselves, or how isolated we feel, or how much we shut specific people out... we're bound together. All of us. That is a fact that we cannot escape. What we can do is working for the benefits of that, which comes when you not only are somewhere, but also belong there. And help others belong too. Just like not being able to change ourselves until we know, so with our people-inhabited environments. We can not truly fit into them, feel at home, feel the good aspects of them until we do know how they work, and which parts are real and where people pretend. Or not necessarily intentionally deceive, but put up a good face. Look around, on all of your interactions with people. Look at how those people interact with each other. WHY they do so. How consistent their actions are, of themselves and in combination with their words. Where the foci of power, responsibility, and authority lie; whether they are different - and if so, why. Work, families, here, generally online. What is the current situation? What do you really think about it? Does it seem fair to you? Would you change it, and how? What don't you like, and how much is it possible for you to change? How much is it plausible for you to change? How much do you really want to change, and how much is just things you prefer complaining about? (hey! It's a valid question! Everybody does that, myself included!) What would you sacrifice in exchange for making things better? On the one hand, everybody deserves to live in surrounding that are supportive or at least tolerable. That is not always the case, I know, sometimes circumstances drop us where things are less than stellar. And yet it is up to us to float or sink. To muddle through or to shine. To be a weight or to awe everybody. I have faith in every single baby courtesan's ability to shine, to float, to awe. I've seen it. But where people are less receptive, less perceptive, it doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen without effort. And it sure doesn't happen without knowing where we start from. So, baby courtesans. Look. Look in, look around. Urge yourself to see, to see things as they are, not as it's easy/as you'd like them to be. You're an interesting, amazing person; the world around us is full of magic and wonder. Both are worth your attention. And when you know, you will have power to affect. |