#RandomThoughts

And I quote…”If you don’t own something, you’re not the boss.  Why be subservient?  You must be the master of your own kingdom…You can’t just walk into things with your eyes half open.  You’ve gotta know what you’re getting in to.  You have to take possession of your life.

The world will try to sell you stuff.  But first of all they have to make you feel bad about yourself; less than in some way.  So the world will try to tell you who are, and you have to tell yourself who you are.  So there’s this on-going battle.

There’s two worlds.  There’s the inner world of energy and the outer world of energy.  There’s two identities.  One’s real.  One’s false.  Somehow we have to give ourselves enough confidence to reassure ourselves we are enough.

However, I enter the game…’cause I gotta move on in the world; I’ve gotta crack on.  And I know there’s lots of temptation that can come along the way.  So I will own the suit and I don’t mean by paying for it, I mean by owning it.  I put on my suit of armour and I come out into the world.  Guess what, I’m having a good time because I’m owning the suit.“

-Guy Ritchie

This is from an interview with one of my favourite podcasters Joe Rogan.  What Guy had to say really resonated with me.  I think it is spot on.  Whether it’s parents, other family members, friends, school, your community, brands, social media, the government…(the list goes on), there is so much pressure on the individual to confirm to beliefs and agendas which do not belong to us.

Growing up in two very different cultures, I felt this pressure from both sides.  It was difficult to figure out who exactly I was, what I wanted, what I actually believed, or what was in my best interests.  This all had an impact on my judgements and my choices.

The pandemic created a space to really consider all of this because there was a lot less external noise.  For me it felt like wading through a web of stuff; trying to pick out what belonged to me, and what actually, I had been pressured to accept.

But it’s not as easy as deciding to create change.  Like Guy says he has to put on his ‘suit of armour’.  The pressure doesn’t just go away.  To resist it becomes a constant practice.

Also, we are citizens of the world and we do have responsibilities to manage.  Sometimes we do have to put others first or at very least consider their needs.  Plus if there wasn’t an element of conformity in our world, there would be chaos.  So it’s a balancing act…and so we juggle, sometimes dropping the ball, and then beginning again.

Does this resonate with you?  What are your thoughts?

Sometimes we can spend a whole lot of energy chasing something that is not for us, and which we are not meant for. 

We get caught up in the excitement, the hype, and how it looks from the outside, without stopping to consider the detail or whether this is really what is best for us.

You can get caught up in an illusion, choosing to believe what something appears to be, instead of listening to the feeling inside that is telling you ‘no’. And instead of really paying attention and seeing the consequences of our choices.

And if for a moment, we wake up from this trance, it takes an extraordinary amount of effort to stop getting sucked right back in.

Eventually, we need to take an honest look in the mirror and ask ourselves whether we are actually happy.  You have to dig deep and ask yourself ‘Is this what I really want’ and ‘Don’t I deserve better than this?’

Finally, it will be time to decide, choose and say:  ‘I am not that.  I am [fill in your own word(s)]. This is who I am.  This is who I’ve always been.’

And then small step, after small step…a new journey begins…

What is your ‘I am…..’?