Be Yourself #2

#2 

Avoid fixating on the past and not letting yourself grow.

One of the most unhealthy approaches to being oneself is to make a decision that who you are is defined by a moment or period of time, after which you spend the rest of your life trying to still be that person from the past rather than someone who is still you but grows with the passing of each season and decade. Allow yourself this space to grow, to improve, to become wiser. And allow yourself to forgive past errors and past behaviors you're not so proud of. Work on accepting mistakes and choices you've made; they're done and in the past. You had your reasons for them and the decision made sense at the time, so instead of harnessing yourself to past mistakes, allow yourself to learn their lessons and continue to grow.


Look for people around you who proudly proclaim they are no different than they were the day they turned 16 or 26 or 36, or whatever. Do these people seem flexible,easygoing, happy people? Often they are not because they are so busy insisting that nothing has changed for them ever, that they're incapable of taking on new ideas, learning from others, or growing. They might believe adamantly that they are "being themselves" but in reality they are often enslaved by the past and a particular image of themselves that they would have done better to have released long ago. Growth into every new age and stage of our lives is an essential part of being true to ourselves and to being emotionally healthy and whole.

Oh, this one is good. Who are we NOW. Now is really all we can do anything about so let's focus on that. It is said that people always make the best decision for themselves at the time it happens with the information they have. What we have done in the past is.... well, in the past and can't be re-done.

What we do have is now. What we do have is the ability to have the awareness to use the past to make better decisions, not to focus on our past faults or actions or even to lift ourselves up on the pedestal. Even our greatest moments or Glory days are in the past. We are not those either.

By being open to new possibilities of what we can become, learn, love and do we free ourselves of images we might have of who we think we are. 

Let Go.

       

          Grow.

   

                  Cultivate.


What ripens in any moment are seeds sown in the past. In this moment, choose consciously to sow seeds for happiness and health. Breathe your awareness into this moment.

Be Yourself #1

This is no April Fools, although I love lighthearted tricks that make me laugh.....but this is real. Authenticity. Authentic Existence. Being true to oneself. Being yourself. A subject really delved into by existentialist philosophers and now in recent years we have a newer phrase "Authentic Living" and life coaches who help others get back on track to their path of self discovery and living the life they are happiest living. I found a fun bit on Wiki How that I would like to share and discuss. The platform for cultivating Small Sun Seeds starts with being true to yourself. We are all different people connected to one another trying to accomplish all different goals. Really being true to ourselves leads to happiness and satisfaction which spreads because if you are genuinely happy you will act that way in the world. Others will feel it and they will want to know how to get it. So..... #1

Find yourself and define yourself on your terms.

 Oscar Wilde once said with his usual wit:

 Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.

 As humorous as this might seem, it's a basic summation of the truth. Yet, you can't be yourself if you don't know, understand, and accept yourself first. It should be your primary goal to find this out. Find the time to dwell upon what you value and take time to consider what makes up the essence of who you are. As part of this, contemplate your life and choices. 




Remember that the definition of YOU is ever changing as well. Who we are today is not who we were yesterday or who we will be tomorrow. Look at what you have done in the past and make a list of things you have accomplished and things you have not liked. Did you have the feeling of being forced in a certain direction? Sometimes as children we feel pressures to be a certain way or have interest in certain things. Once you are an adult it is ENTIRELY up to you. Look at the things on your list that you like.


DO MORE OF THOSE!! Really, do more of those. You will eventually find your tribe. 


Set the intention.


                    Start to shift.


                                      Cultivate.

Find the Difference

Detecting beliefs that keep you back may be hard to differentiate between your wild ideas that are good for your life. This quote from Tom Robbins from Still Life with Woodpecker just made me think. "There are essential and inessential insanities. Inessential insanities are a brittle amalgamation of ambition, aggression, and pre-adolescent anxiety -- garbage that should have been dumped long ago. Essential insanities are those impulses one instinctively senses are virtuous and correct, even though peers may regard them as coo-coo." Essentially, let go of your past way of operating and move onward and upward even if it is not something your peers/ family would choose to do. Listen to your heart, not your past. Be present and cultivate.

What is a Small Sun Seed?

Small Sun Seeds are the intentions you have inside to be your true amazing self. These seeds, which you already have, contain everything you will need to achieve your goals. They just need to be tended and cultivated to grow and grow and grow!!
Inside of our mind, body and soul we have everything we could need to create happiness and prosperity in our lives. These seeds are there sitting patient and quiet just waiting to be discovered. There not going anywhere until you say so. Some of these seeds have already been discovered and have now grown into the things you love and treasure in your life. They are love. They are truth. They are happiness. What made them grow? YOUR attention to these seeds. You did it. You made them grow.
What if you do not have so many growing sun seeds? It is time to take a closer look at that and and figure out where you abandoned those bright shiny little pearls of light for other things in your life that aren't so amazing.
This will be a platform for your small sun seed garden. It is not the garden that is small, it is the seed. It is a pearly, shiny, bright spec waiting to grow. It wants so desperately to sprout into the world. It is your mission to help it. It will be bigger than you. That's the whole point.
The great realization is that the more small sun seeds that make it out into the world, the more people that accomplish their great big dreams being the best, most amazing self they can be, the more love, light and happiness is here... and it's contagious. Trust in your goodness. Start cultivating.

The Sun shines whether it is day or night; so should our concern for others.
-Sakyong Mipham