Thursday, 15 May 2008

Who Would I Be If I Weren't Somebody Else?

Stephen Covey says:
"To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you are going, so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction."

This is not me. Statements like this have always intimidated me. I don't really understand them except on an intellectual level. My destination has never been clear. The view has always seemed a bit obscured. I thought I should know where I'm going and suffered a lot of guilt and self-judgment as a result of the seeming randomness of my life. Imagining myself in different jobs and roles never gave me a lift or a sense of destiny. I felt as if this was a great failing on my part to be so much like a paper floating on a stream. Who would I be if I weren't somebody else?

When I relaxed into my more natural self, I realised that I had been doing what I was meant to do and being who I was supposed to be from an early age. With the 'shoulds' pushed aside, I could see myself more clearly. As I made choices based on my values instead of on what somebody else was doing, I discovered my natural way. Living a value-driven life allows me to make choices from my own context and the somebody I become is truly me - naturally! And the path before me is less of a minefield and more of an easy journey of self-affirmation.

I am somebody and that somebody is ME!

"You are always in a universe of choices. Any moment of your life can go in any direction you choose."
-Luis Alberto Urrea in The Hummingbird's Daughter

Love,

Barbara

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