Whose Life Are You Living?
From the day you were dropped off on this rotating gas bubble in the middle of outer nowhere, you’ve been going through a process of deep conditioning. For some reason, humans were created in such a way that we only learn by observation, and at the earliest stages of life, we cannot discern whether or not what we are learning will serve us or not. In others words, the baby version of you absorbed EVERYTHING.
There was a time in almost all of our lives when we believed we could be and do just about anything we could fathom, which could have been anything from becoming a firefighter to transforming into a unicorn. Yet, in most of our lives, there was a point when we were told that some ambition of ours was either “unrealistic” or not acceptable within our tribe.
Teal Swan gives a great example of a child born into a family of artists but yearns to be a scientist; however, due to the family values, this child conforms to life in the arts, whether consciously or subconsciously.
A majority of us are more agreeable than not and look to appease the status quo to harmonize with our environment, and frequently for those who do not choose to conform, there is a price to pay. This reward and punishment approach to life leads us to believe that to survive in our surroundings, we must put on the appropriate mask and become whatever it is to bring those around us the most relief and comfort.
For example, you want to join the dance team, but your family’s religion condones such activity. However, your heart’s most authentic desire is to dance; you forgo your desire and instead seek the approval of your religion. You may feel as if you did the right thing by suppressing your calling to dance. Still, the deepest part of you feels neglected and unexpressed, and often, this lack of expression will show itself in one form or another (this is a WHOLE topic for another discussion).
If you look around your workspace or into the faces of those on your zoom meeting, you will see the eyes of men and women who abandoned their true selves a long time ago and have instead adopted the lives of those who raised them.
The only reason I can articulate this so well is for the very reason “Closer to Om” now exists. As a child, my gifts and talents were encouraged, so much so that most of my time was dedicated to my craft of acting. This inner calling was smothered once I moved to the united states and realized that it wasn’t “cool” to be in theatre, so instead of following my purpose, which I was being paid for at the time, I dropped it and replaced it with athletics. Don’t get me wrong, I loved sports, especially basketball, but I don’t know many NBA teams picked up a 5 foot 6 shooting guard any time soon. Though I found my passion for music and writing during these times, I often neglected the complete immersion of myself into my gifts until now.
I’ve heard far too many people tell me the bald-faced lie that they do not know their passion and what they genuinely desire to do. Only a handful of people have suppressed their purpose for so long that they genuinely do not remember, but for most, it was evident in the things they daydream and consume most through the media.
I believe that every creature on this planet was created with a purpose; every cell, organ, and limb in and on your body was created with a purpose; what makes you think that you as the one experiencing this life, are not the same?
You may be living out the dreams of your parents, which ironically aren’t always their purpose but something they believed would have been if they had done so. An example of this is a parent who never received a college education, and worked blue-collar jobs their whole life, they might have seen their own life as unfulfilled due to the lack of a college degree. This would lead them to push their children into acquiring a degree to fulfill something they felt they missed.
In essence, we are usually living out the lives of those who do not even know their own life’s purpose; therefore we are living no true life at all.
There has been a massive push towards authenticity during the past few years, with slogans such as “be yourself” and “be true to you” becoming mainstream, yet when we look through social media, we often see the replica of a forgotten original.
You may be living in your calling but not living out your purpose. If you have a gift to paint immaculate pieces yet all of your paintings look exactly like Picasso, then you are living Picaasos life; if you are a recording artist and all of your music is the same as what’s on the radio, your message is not one of authenticity.
It’s easy to become a product of your environment and turn yourself into a chameleon to survive, yet doing so will leave you in that same state…survival. I believe we were created to not only thrive but to self-actualize and bring something unique to this planet, to use our unique voice (whether it be verbal or otherwise), to create value for others and bring fulfillment to ourselves.
Written by. Tinashe Hwande
For more visit: https://closertoom.wordpress.com/
