Life tip #18: Trust yourself


Hello and happy Monday! The weekend was predicted to bring plenty of rain and storms, which I’d been looking forward to after this dry spell, but instead it was warm, sometimes borderline hot. I enjoyed that as well, I just wish I’d been able to spend more time out in it. Unfortunately, laptops don’t do well out in heat plus the glare of the screen makes them unusable. Otherwise, I’d probably be fashioning a bit of a glow from the sun right now. Sometimes you have to sacrifice time in the present to make time in the future so hopefully next weekend will be warm and sunny so that I’ll be able to take complete advantage of it. How was your weekend, my friend?

Take a look around you. Think about all of the things you see in the world. When you go out, when you turn on the tv, even when you browse the internet. Everywhere you go, something or someone is telling you to do something. Most of the time it’s telling you to buy something.

Even the good things you hear are usually coming from someone telling you to do something. Here, right now, I’m telling you to do something and that something is trust yourself.

Before you believe anyone, take the time to stop and decide whether or not you believe it. If something doesn’t sit well with you, if it just doesn’t seem to add up and make sense, don’t automatically believe it to be the truth. The “words of wisdom” we often times hear and read can be contradictory to other words we’ve heard, but we tend to soak this all up like a sponge. We forget that behind these words is a person, just like us.

One of my favorite parts of the movie Avatar was that the Na’vi did everything by instinct and followed their gut. I realized after watching the movie that we’re losing that gut feeling and it seems to grow quieter and quieter as time goes on.

So my life tip for you today is to trust yourself. Don’t blindly follow and listen to everything you hear. Listen to yourself, your body, your mind, your heart, before you listen to anyone else.

Comments

kimbirdy
6 June 2011 - 6:21 pm

yes, this is all so true! i try to teach people in therapy that frustrations/anger usually comes from someone crossing your boundaries, or more commonly, you allowing your boundaries to be crossed. we like to blame others for “making” us do things, but we all have the option to say no. i think people often have that gut response that tells us “this isn’t good for me,” but we override that voice with the idea that we need to be giving of ourselves if we want to be a good person. but it’s like they say on the plane with oxygen masks, you first have to take care of yourself if you are going to be able to do anything good for anyone else.

Caroline
6 June 2011 - 6:39 pm

I LOVE this post. It is so so true. And I also took that away from Avatar, that they were still in touch with things we had forgotten about.
Getting comfortable with our own intuition is such an exciting endeavor to me. It gives me goosebumps!

Rachael
6 June 2011 - 7:18 pm

I love everything that you said. Although for me, it’s hard to trust myself sometimes, especially if everyone around me says something different, you know? But, I’m the most important person regarding myself, so I guess I should just listen to me!

Kayla @ Exquisite Banana
7 June 2011 - 4:08 am

so true, and yet, so hard sometimes, yes? I’m working on it every day.

Ashley
7 June 2011 - 5:23 am

Very, very true! If only I remembered to do that more often.

Marjorie Rose
7 June 2011 - 7:09 pm

I’m about to turn 31 and I’m still learning to trust myself. I was a confident girl in my early 20’s but little mistakes here and there (plus doubts) shook me in my late 20’s. I’m gaining my footing slowly but surely… I’m so profoundly grateful for my family and friends. They believe in me even when I sometimes don’t..

Misty :)
14 June 2011 - 3:44 pm

I completely agree with this tip! There are too many times that people get influenced by other people and start believing and doing things that they disagree with. If we just took a step back and listened to ourselves, we would be able to make decisions based on what we believe. But half the time, people don’t want to listen to themselves because they are afraid others won’t accept them, they don’t know if what they think/feel/believe is right, and they don’t want others to not like them. This tip is a great reminder because I have definitely had my fair share of people influencing the way I act and do things. I need to remember to go with what I believe and if for some reason that I don’t believe the same thing as someone else, I also need to remind myself that there is probably a good reason behind why I don’t agree with them. If I can remember this, then I know I will be doing what I believe in and living my life for ME and not someone else.

P.S.
I love the picture you did for this!!! So artistic and awesome looking! 🙂

Stephenie Zamora
27 July 2011 - 2:56 am

Thank you for the link, I did get lost. 🙂 This is beautiful, “Listen to yourself, your body, your mind, your heart, before you listen to anyone else.” And so true what you’ve written here and on my post. I really loved Avatar as well… the connection to their gut, the earth, one another, etc. We have lost a LOT of what was portrayed in that movie. Sending you a big hug! xo





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