When I was living in the dark I lived with blinders on. I only saw what I wanted to see, and chose to see only what fit the narrative I wanted to tell. I wanted to continue thinking of myself as a victim, so I looked for opportunities to show that I was. I thought of myself as a bad person so I looked for examples of that. I didn’t believe that I deserved the good in my life, so I sought out reasons why. We find what we seek, but when we are not present and don’t make a conscious effort to see with your eyes and hear with our ears and not through the prejudice of our hearts and mind, we don’t see and hear the truth. We can be easily persuaded, if we are not careful, instead of looking at the facts and focus on being present, we can convince ourselves what we’re seeing is true, even when it’s not, we need to invest the time to investigate what it is we are calling our truth.
When I began my journey on this path I had lived with such a warp of perception I wasn’t sure what the truth was, but I knew I couldn’t continue to live that way and I needed help. As I started to strip away the lies, the half-truths and the denial of my past, the truth began to come into focus. I had chosen to see what I wanted to so I could continue to harm myself and each time I did it validated my belief that I deserved to. It was a long road to cleaning up the garbage I had left behind and cleaning up my side of the street. Honesty was the solution and a desire to live in the moment, be present, take in what was truly around me and look to see where I could improve myself and give back, and learning to live and appreciate each moment, even if it was uncomfortable, and not allow myself to slip back in the past or jump forward to the future. I made a conscious effort every day to focus on what was in front of my hands, do what I could do and not get distracted with what was around me, and when I was able to keep my focus directed on each moment I was able to move forward.
It’s easy to live with blinders on, to bury our faces in our phones, headphones, or games and screens, but when we do we’re not only doing ourselves a disservice we’re also disrespecting those around us by not acknowledging their presence and by not participating in life. It’s important to let go of what we think and look with our eyes and hear with our hears, that is where the truth is, and when we set aside our own preconceived ideas the truth is able to come into focus and we feel connected to life and what is around us. Ignoring what we see and hear doesn’t make it go away it only prevents us from being a productive member of our communities and our own lives. Take off the blinders and make a point to see and hear what is around you, and take that information and put through a filter of compassion, kindness and understanding, that is where a place of healing begins and a newfound engagement with life. SLAY on!
SLAY OF THE DAY: Do you feel you move through life engaged with it, present in the moment, or walk around with blinders on? If you do walk around disengaged, what do you allow yourself to see and hear? What do you think you are not seeing and hearing? How do you think that harms you? How do you think that harms those around you? If you are present, are there certain things you still block out? If so, what are they? Why do you block them out? Do they go away by ignoring them? They don’t SLAYER, they are still there and we use our energy to hide from them instead of dealing with the truth, learning from it and moving on. Make a point to really look and listen, taking in what your truth is and how you can be authentic to that truth, to yourself and the world around you.
S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you
State Of Slay™ 