At the beginning of this year, I decided this was "The Year of Chill", meaning that I am going to continue simplifying my life and letting go of things without fear. I have recently realized that what I really want out of this process of letting go is to move forward in my quest to further align my daily life and work with my authentic nature. In light of these new revelations, I have re-named this "My Year of Fearless Authenticity". I am doing practices every day to help me uncover new truths about myself. I think it is important never to think we " know it all" and can stop looking for new ways to develop. Ego makes us believe that we have arrived at ultimate truth and can no longer learn from life and from one another. But humility allows us to accept that we will never know everything and that we can make life richer by looking for development opportunities in all things. When we are acting from the ego, we see each new social encounter as an opportunity to teach others the "right" way to do things and we take every chance to show how much we know. When we are not acting from the ego, we can be the teacher in a room full of students and feel entirely comfortable with knowing that each one of them can teach us something.
Today I am thinking about manipulative actions. How often am I trying to get what I want from others by doing something that is not authentic to who I am? I am noticing as I reflect on this that manipulation can be done in many subconscious ways. When we accomplish something to get someone else's approval, when we try to manage the eating habits of our spouses "for their own good", when we create our physical image based on getting others to perceive us in a certain way. By becoming conscious of the ways that I exhibit manipulative behaviors, I am allowing myself to become free to love authentically and show my true and beautiful self to the world.
I never thought about manipulation as being unintentional before. I don't intentionally do manipulative things, but I had a conversation with my new friend Anthony Quinata last week and it led me to realize that the definition of what we typically think of as manipulation can really be broadened. By looking deeper, we can uncover patterns of behavior that have built up from past experiences and that currently influence us on a subconscious level. I have had some really amazing insights since that conversation. As someone who thinks a lot more about others than about myself, it is a journey for me to realize how much I can enhance my relationships with everyone by learning more about myself.
Today I am thinking about manipulative actions. How often am I trying to get what I want from others by doing something that is not authentic to who I am? I am noticing as I reflect on this that manipulation can be done in many subconscious ways. When we accomplish something to get someone else's approval, when we try to manage the eating habits of our spouses "for their own good", when we create our physical image based on getting others to perceive us in a certain way. By becoming conscious of the ways that I exhibit manipulative behaviors, I am allowing myself to become free to love authentically and show my true and beautiful self to the world.
I never thought about manipulation as being unintentional before. I don't intentionally do manipulative things, but I had a conversation with my new friend Anthony Quinata last week and it led me to realize that the definition of what we typically think of as manipulation can really be broadened. By looking deeper, we can uncover patterns of behavior that have built up from past experiences and that currently influence us on a subconscious level. I have had some really amazing insights since that conversation. As someone who thinks a lot more about others than about myself, it is a journey for me to realize how much I can enhance my relationships with everyone by learning more about myself.