When we live and function from a place within our authentic self, everything about our truth, our soul, our purpose, transcends into the outer world.
When traveling this journey called life, we seem to hit a point where we want to find meaning for it all. We need to find that deeper burning desire inside of us, the thing that we are called to do. We have this itch to know what our life’s purpose is.
We first look to the outside world to try and fill that void of purposelessness. We look to things to foster a deeper connection, things to help identify who we are and what we should be doing with our lives.
We then realize we aren’t any closer to finding meaning from when we first started.
Looking outside of ourselves in pursuit of such connection takes us further away from the very thing we wish to find. We continue consuming and feeding our ego in hopes that we find meaning.
In reality, this pursuit of finding things to get us closer to an answer is a cover-up for the fear we have of being our authentic selves.
“To be alive is the biggest fear humans have. Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive, the risk to be alive and express what we really are. Just being ourselves is the biggest fear of humans.” — Don Miquel Ruiz
To seek our truth we must look within ourselves.
It’s not so much looking as it is intentionally shedding away the layers that have accumulated over our life disguising our truth.
You see, our primary purpose in life concerns just one thing, being our true self. Our secondary purpose is doing.
When we live and function from a place within our authentic self, everything about our truth, our soul, our purpose, transcends into the outer world. Meaning ensues. It’s no longer a pursuit of something we yearn to find, but rather, it becomes a way of life; our being.
Let life live through you. Your calling, or vocation, is the by-product.
The foundation to selflessness is selfishness.
Being selfish, not in the egotistic feed the bad wolf kind of way, but the self-care kind, is the foundation to seeking your true self. Selfishness is committing to traveling a journey of intentional self growth to get to the core of who you are.
Practicing self-care strengthens your mindfulness muscle. The space between stimulus and response widens. The lens in which you see yourself and the world around you changes. What once was just thoughtless reaction, you now have choice into how you respond.
As life lives through your truth and transcends into your outer world, everything it touches becomes enhanced. It directly impacts your work, your art, your relationships, your family. It uncovers your calling in offering your unique abilities to the world.
If you are unfaithful to your true self, other people suffer.
You start to make promises you can’t keep. You feed off of conflict. Your dreams turn into nightmares. You look to being busy as a product of productivity and a measure of success. You gloss over the mundane and become infuriated with the trivial things that sprout up. All while your ego is gaining strength and grinning.
Remaining faithful to your true self is the bridge that connects you to serving your outer world wholeheartedly.
You see, being selfish is exactly what you should be doing if it’s meaning and purpose that you seek. Find space within your daily grind to practice self-care and peel back those layers one-by-one to rediscover who you are.
When you take care of yourself first, you give your best self to others. This manifests the best kind of work, art, relationships, and creativity you can give.
Start being selfish to be in stride with your muse.
Further Reading
No Sidebar: At Work
Professional development is offered by most organizations and loads of informative resources are at your fingertips. But this lends us to believe that we are to show up as only slices of ourselves in different places.
Thus is why self-care practices in the workplace are becoming ever so popular. It breaks the barrier between a work life and a personal life and offers just one; life.
Self-care and mindfulness in the workplace strengthens employees as people. It improves emotional intelligence, it fosters compassion, it strengthens empathy, it reduces stress, anxiety and conflict. Toxic relationships begin to flourish.
Take your mindfulness practice to work with you.
No Sidebar: At Home
Self-care is a pre-requisite to traveling the depths of a healthy marriage. Often times we find ourselves coasting — thinking that walking down the isle saying “I do” was the hardest part. A marriage that coasts is doomed to fail.
Just as self-care is necessary for marriage, it’s essential for parenting. Being intentional about your own self growth opens you to a whole new world of parenting. It provides space to showcase your imperfections.
It opens up vulnerability and honesty to the family. You practicing self-care and mindfulness sets the stage for your children to do the same. Parenting is mostly about how you engage with the world — it’s the wholehearted parenting way.
No Sidebar: In Your Soul
Self-care is the practice of getting to your soul and living your truth. When you wholeheartedly give your best self to others and surrender to the present moment, your legacy starts to build before other people’s eyes.
Self-care opens up a space for stillness. In this fast pace world we’ve come to find ourselves in, the practice of self-care uncovers a newly found joy in the quiet.
This is where self growth occurs. This is where your true values and priorities begin to take shape. This is where a personal manifesto ensues.
True selflessness is present upon being selfish first.