"If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music which he hears,
however measured or far away."
- Henry David Thoreau
"They [conformists] think society wiser than their soul,
and know not that one soul, and their soul, is wiser than the whole world...
Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members....
Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist....
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Life responds with challenges when we allow fear to guide us instead of trusting our own intuition to lead us in the right direction. Life gets messed up when we mistake fear for intuition. Fear and intuition cannont co-exist. They are in constant competition to overide the other. The key to life is to block all fear, listen only to our intuition and follow its instructions.
Sometimes it takes a catastrophic event (or series of events) to wake us the hell up and get us to realize that we are headed down a life path that was not meant for us. When something happens in your life, good or bad, that makes you rethink absolutely everything - every thought, every belief, every relationship - pay very close attention. These moments are not be ignored or denied. If taken seriously, they have the potential to act as a springboard, launching us toward transformative revolutionary change. This is what we live for! This is life in all of its glorious, infuriating beauty.
When faced with these situations, out first reaction is usually fear because for most of us, change can be terrifying and we resist it; however, we must transcend ALL fear and summon with all of our might the most courageous version of ourselves. No matter what it takes, we must look fear squarely in the eye and be brave even if our instinct is to cower in the corner or run screaming from the room. Because in the end, these moments are what it all comes down to. These are the moments that matter.
Innovation, change, new ideas and differing opinions are the natural born enemies to the way things are. Disrupting status quo takes strength, perseverance, compassion and courage. Naysayers come out of the woodwork trying to discourage and disrupt, making it necessary, even imperative, to remain steadfast and focused on intention. If intention is clear and pure and true, not even the most determined naysayer will affect your resolve to stay the course.
To conform is to insult your own soul. Conformity is a betrayal of self and erodes the soul little by little...it's not sustainable and can have disastrous consequences. Why should we spend this one life that we have been given doing, saying and being what others want and expect of us when it leads do nothing but misery, pain and disappointment? Be still. Listen to yourself. The answers are all there waiting for you to access their wisdom.
Oftentimes, life can appear overly complicated. Distraction is everywhere, by design. The happiest, most productive, successful people learn to avoid distraction by taking a moment every single day to be still and listen. This is really what mediation is, at its core. Distraction is the exact opposite of meditation. To meditate is to connect to your own intuition and just listen. Once you listen, you learn the truth. And truth equals happiness. Truth is love.
Life is just a series of endless distractions until one day you realize something that changes everything..you finally recognize that the spaces between the distractions is where the magic happens. And that's all it takes - that one epiphany - to change a life forever.
Once we stop being afraid of things that reside in the dark - things like pain, loneliness, suffering, imperfection and judgement - they no longer hold any power over us and we are free to live a life without boundaries or expectation. A life full of joy and purpose. A life full of connection but without fear of anything that might hold us back from revealing to the world who we really are. That's the kind of world I want to live in - one in which everyone gives themselves and others permission to live this way. Imagine the possibilities...
