Lessons in life will be repeated until they are learned.

• Frank Sonnenberg

Something you need to know about me is I love spirituality content. I adore watching people discuss esoteric ideas, like Law of Assumption, tarot, and the big wide universe. I think it’s fun and interesting, even if you have to take a lot of it with a big pinch of salt.

Yet despite all of these books, videos, podcasts I’ve consumed over the years, I keep forgetting one main message – the importance of listening to yourself.

Maybe it’s just me, but most of the time when I’m consuming content like this, I’m subconciously looking for confirmation or approval.

Sure, there are times when entertainment is just that, but as I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog, I look to other people to see if I’m doing things ‘right’.

I’m always checking, without even realising it, if I’m on the right path.

It’s definitley a result of being in education for so long and, quite frankly, being very comfortable there. Growing up, you have clear parameters of what to do and how you need to be doing it. If you’re good, there’s approval.

In the ‘real world’ the parameters are not so clear anymore because there is no one right way.

There is no obvious path to success – and success looks different for everyone, anyway. It’s no longer about grades and passing exams, it’s just about living.

As I’m almost 30 years old and have been out of the education system for longer than I care to admit, you’d think I’d be over all this by now. But alas, childhood habits die hard and I’m still here, seeking approval and looking for ‘the right way’.

While consuming this content, I’m always trying to adjust things in my head. The chatter in my brain is constantly making arguments both for and against whatever it is I’m trying to learn about.

This can be useful in some cases, as it essentially performs as a prompt for you to build your own ideas off, but it’s not necessary.

Here I am, trying to make sense of someone else’s ideas, twist it to fit what I’ve experienced, when I could just be doing it myself. I could cut out the middle man and start listening to myself, instead of looking somewhere else.

Imagination is a powerful thing, and while you may not think there is a lot of space for it in your adult life, it can be a great tool to come up with your own ideas, opinions, and beliefs if you let it. Other people can be a jumping off point for you, but at some stage you have to go it alone. Imagination (aka, just thinking freely, allowing yourself to wonder far in your mind) can get you there, if you let it.

Instead of trying to make sense of what other people think or say, why not decide for yourself what’s right?

I’m going to try, but I have a feeling this lesson may need to appear a few more times before it really clicks!

Speak soon,

Rachael.

Photo by Josh Hild on Unsplash