Inner Discovery
For over three years now, I’ve been sending out a Make it Happen post each Monday…..and what I’ve always thought I was doing was sending out positive, inspiring pieces of writing mixed in with my own thoughts of the world. Basically I’ve been pumping out self-improvement messages just like many of today’s best sellers and motivational speakers do.
However, I’ve come to the realization that the term self-Improvement is nonsense. The word suggests that people are broken and need to be fixed. What I’ve learned over the past 3 years is that nothing could be further from the truth…..each one of us is perfect at our core.
I often spread the message that certain changes must be made within ourselves in order to live the lives we wish to live. But that is wrong. Those of us who seek to find our best life and live out the desires of our heart…..must be dedicated to inner discovery, not outer change.
Sometimes telling people how they should live, or suggesting ways to help make their lives better and more meaningful just provides them with guilt and shame. If any of my writings have ever created these feelings….I apologize. But I do stick to the fact that we are all in need of development…..improving upon what we already are.
We actually start our lives with all it takes to live our best life. As a child we were innocent and pure, creative, passionate, imaginative……we expressed our truest essence as a person and we totally lived in the moment and savored every simple gift we received. We saw nothing but abundance and we saw the world as a place of enormous possibilities…..but then something happened. We betrayed ourselves.
In order to “fit in” we began to rationalize, judge, and worry in order to become a “pleaser”. The process of socialization kicked in as we did what we were told, and acted so that we conformed to that around us.
Without getting into too much detail……what we as Adults are striving for in our lives is to get back to where we started. We don’t need any freaking Self-Improvement….we have it. We just have to look inside to find where we hid it all those years ago.
Oh, and I’m pretty sure that riding a bike helps us tap into our inner child.
Darryl, Attaboy my friend. I have read a lot of your stuff over the years but this is certainly one of the best. You have really come into your own in terms of self expression and it is wonderful. In general a agree with your premise here BUT, dont be hard on yourself. Make it happen mondays, and things like it definitely have a place, they have value. Your words in those messages helped me many times. Mostly for the very simple reminder to get back to the basics. Remember what is true, what matters, and then get off your ass and do something. That is good stuff too.
Thanks, Eric…….good words, my friend. You’re one of the good ones, Mr. Hutchins.
Darryl, that last paragraph of yours is pure poetry. So, so true. Thanks for articulating it so well.
Thanks Paul……I appreciate your comments as always.
I take my hat off to you sir for having the courage to admit the manner in which you were conveying the need for each of us to re-discover our inner child. I appreciate your insight guiding us back into the area where the possibilities are endless for all of us. As a newbie to your blog, I look forward to your daily reading. Thank you for getting some of us back on track. From a senior citizen who is still a kid at heart like the toddler in your blog.
Hi Jim, thanks for your comment. I’m happy to hear that you will be back on a daily basis and I look forward to more interaction with you. Being a kid at heart is the best way to be.
This has been one of my biggest revelations in the past year. It’s all within us, everything. We don’t need to listen to others, follow gurus etc…It’s all in there if we look and listen. And it’s not in the mind. It’s in our feelings and emotions. And yes I agree it’s easier to reach it on the bike!
Awesome, thanks for your comment. Keep on spreading the great messages on your blog and through your love of the bike.
Of all the posts you’ve made and I’ve loved, this tops the list! I like how you put it, “We betrayed ourselves”. What was our betrayal? I think it’s believing fear is real. This notion was masterfully articulated in the movie After Earth, starring Will Smith, check it out: http://youtu.be/U3ahYL-AsmI
Just think of what you might do in life if you authentically feared nothing…
Wow, that is a huge compliment. Thanks Joel. Oh, and thanks for the clip. I had actually never heard of that movie. I’m very proud of this post and hope all our Loving the Bike readers get something out of it.
I did.
am working on it…