by We begin life being all that we are. We don’t know otherwise. We respond as best we can to each moment that passes. We learn, we make mistakes, we win, one moment at a time. When we fail, we get upset, but quickly move forward armed with a new learning. The same holds true for our victories. Once the moment passes, we are on to the next.
While there is much we don’t know at this early age, we do know how to respond to whatever life brings with all that we are. As we grow older, who we really are becomes less clear. We are told what is right, what is wrong, what to do, what not to do. We are rewarded, we are punished, we are treated with respect, and we are disrespected. We come face to face with failure and its repercussions. We also learn that “winning is so much better than losing” (to quote Tim Robbins in the movie “Bull Durham”). In fact, it feels so much better that our wins can define us, which means our failures do the same.
These teachings, these experiences often obscure who we really are. We are removed from who we are naturally, from how we are designed and built. No longer do we live life with a clear, uncluttered mind, full of trust, free of fear, moment to moment. Our self-worth is a function of results, not who we really are. We judge ourselves and others. We compare our results and allow the win or loss to determine how we feel about ourselves. This is Noise. This is not how life is best lived.
Committing to and learning to return to who we really are, what flows effortlessly from within us, moment by moment, is a hill many do not climb either because their learned “normal” conceals the hill or they choose not to put forth the effort the climb requires. For those that do choose to make the climb, we learn quickly how much there is to unlearn. Unlearning deeply entrenched behaviors, those bad habits that have become our normal, makes the path difficult. No doubt, the hill can be steep. The degree of difficulty of this climb is deeply personal. Variables include how we were raised, who our influencers were at critical times in our life, and our own self-awareness.
The goal is worth the climb. To know who we really are, to Be Our Best, to be all that we are up to this moment in time, is quite the achievement. The reward is a life better lived. One that loosens the reins of worry, anxiety, fear and distrust. We learn that we do not have to win to feel great about who we are. And when we lose, our self-worth remains intact. The wins and losses are simply part of life’s natural rhythm.
Nothing trumps being our best, being who we really are. There is no better feeling, for it makes all others better. When we are being who we really are, in this moment, the best results possible will happen. That is enough.
Being our best demands that we focus on this moment and resist the temptation to try to know and control moments yet to come. We cannot be anywhere but in this moment. Life can be no place other than this moment. This is the place for us. This is where we are designed and built to be. There is no distrust and fear of oneself and life in this moment — distrust and fear arrive when we try to make ourselves and life something we are not. For it is distrust and fear that demand that we know and control what cannot be. This vain attempt to know the results of our actions before they can be known, out of fear of what they might be, is a path filled with anxiety, worry, fear, rationalization and false comfort.
Remaining in this moment, learning to trust what flows naturally from within, is the tonic for what ails so many.
We are designed and built for Being Our Best, for happiness, for success, for maximizing our potential in this moment only.
Time to Stop letting the Noise of what has happened and might happen interfere.
More to come.
