Open to What Is

Whenever I make certain ways of being/thinking/feeling a problem (and, by implication, elevate some ways of being/thinking/doing as superior to others) I'm acting like a ranking system. I morph into an evaluation mechanism, and divide myself up into warring parts.

There's Good Me. Bad Me. Extraordinary Me. Disappointing Me.  All these categories that are just a reflection of how I perceive the world outside me.)  And the more that internalize this system and the longer I'm in dialogue with myself this way, the farther from my intention I get. Because what happens is not that all the parts of me suddenly fall into line. It's not like berating myself magically inspires the resistant parts of me suddenly rise to the occasion and I magically behave the way I think I ought to behave.

On the contrary. The more I engage with my thoughts and feelings as though all I am is content to be quantified by some omniscient ranking algorithm, the more shallow, narrow, and defended my experience of myself and of others becomes. 

Courage is 
knowing
what's 
hardest
for
you
when no one's looking.

It's about knowing
where you hide.
where you shut down.
where you berate yourself

And 
it's
taking
a 
small 
   step
    forward.

How often are you living the life you want to live, the way you want to live it?
How often are you waiting for permission?

Take what you hear from this messy human as an invitation;
To listen inward.
To sense outward.
And to feel less alone.