Thought of the Day, Monday, May 27th, 2013
As we are gathering with family and friends for the celebration of this Memorial Weekend, be it under a happily shining sun or in droopy rain, we will find that, for those of us with a Healthy Sense of Self, there will be fun and heartfelt joy when getting together with the folks we do not see every day.
Those of us with a lack of Sense of Self, who are dependent on fulfilling all kinds of specific conditions in our every day lives, not for ourselves but for “them,” will unfortunately find obstacles, hindrances, blockages, disagreements, quarrels, needs to control and desperate feelings of “I want to get out of here.”
What has been your experience?
You could actually use your own experience as a self-assessment: do you have it, a healthy Sense of Self, or do you lack it?
I’d like to say I celebrate today with a Healthy Sense of Self and that if I accept an invitation to go to a BBQ tonight it is because I want to be there and see the hosts. OR I can choose to be wherever I like, because that is my choice and I know that deep in my core.
Why I would let a defunct sense of obligation make me say yes? That strategy for being well-liked is no longer part of how I operate in the world. Doing what I should do with my family or for my family or for friends or with friends NEVER really brought happiness. It produced the exact opposite for me.
And yet there was always someone saying, well you best just make the best of it!
Yes, I agree, do what you can to make the best and most of your life…starting with who you spend time with on holidays!
And I will acknowledge it is also a big deal to bow out of family gatherings, so it is best handled with courage and compassion–and even then it’s never entirely easy.
At the end of the day, being true to Self is my guiding star these days, for then I can be better for and with others.